


Anecdote | 轶事

by Melonee_Mizu



Series: The Unwritten Book | 空白书 [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Gen, Influenced by Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Mythology, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, Xuanhuan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:48:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 44,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21914734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melonee_Mizu/pseuds/Melonee_Mizu
Summary: These are extra story drabbles to give backstory to some of my original characters inNight of Longing | 情思晚.If you are going to read these extras, remember that these are to explain and give more personality to my Original Characters before I start writing Destiny | 天命.|| Grammar and spelling mistakes are to be expected ||
Relationships: OC/OC, co&oc
Series: The Unwritten Book | 空白书 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1331786
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	1. .Experimenting.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wu Lang, the loyal retainer and best friend of Dong Xiu; an assassin with the mastery over poisons. 19 years old (current). Hails from poor blood and lives with a traumatizing past because of his face. Grey Ace, aromantic-asexual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING: Underage consensual sexual content, bi-curious, loss of virginity** (Luckily, no penetration).

Wu Lang was really just minding his own business. It was in the middle of winter, one of the harshest days of the war against the indigenous people of the Eastern territories. Of course, being Dong Xiu’s loyal retainer, the assassin had to accompany his master to the camps. During his rounds around the site during the night, he couldn’t help but overhear several soldiers conversing about something rather naughty. The young man would usually turn his ears away since he always found such things to be repulsive beyond compare. 

“I had this chick in bed the other day,” the eastern soldier sniggered under his breath, his voice low. To other people, it would sound like a murmur of unintelligible, but Wu Lang had sharp hearing even without his training. He picked up the murmur quite easily as the man continued, “She had a pretty body for a slut, but her face was so ugly.” 

Wu Lang felt a mix of unreasonable anger and immediate disgust at the words, his lips turning into a frown behind his black mask. Differently colored eyes shot a glare at the direction of where the men were seated by the campfire, huddled around with their backs towards the darkness, unaware that they were being overheard.

“Oh, how disgusting. How could you put your dick into something like that?” the second man in green and black armor laughed, lightly striking the first man with his fist. The first man joined in the laughter as he continued, “Trust me, if I wasn’t so horny I wouldn’t. But it’s so easy to put something over her face, especially since I lied and said I was into suffocation play. Her face was so disfigured, I would have vomited if I had to kiss her.” 

“Disfigured people are so disgusting,” the second man spoke in a careless manner, his other two pals nodded in agreement. The red-haired assassin’s fists clenched, not at all realizing that his arm trembled and his body heated up from the rising anger. He would have marched up and yelled at them, but that action in itself was pretty abrupt and it will definitely cause trouble for Dong Xiu if these three disgraceful people were to complain about something Wu Lang didn’t want to explain himself over.

The third man, undoubtedly someone around Wu Lang’s age, spoke with a timidness in his voice, “Um… Why didn’t you get someone else that was prettier than?” 

“None of them had her body. Listen, kid, how old are you?” 

“Seventeen,” the boy spoke. Hearing the number, Wu Lang felt pity for him. They were both roughly the same age, and yet here this youth is, forced to hang around perverted and disgusting men. He knew that this generation was different than the older ones; the assassin only hoped that the kid was sitting by the fire with these pigs only because of peer pressure. 

The first man said, “Seventeen. What a tender age. Have you had sex yet?” 

“N-no…”

“No wonder! Remind me to take you to a brothel one day. When you get the feel of it, you’ll understand why men wouldn’t say no to a good time,” when the adult finished his sentence, the other grown men laughed and agreed. Some of them finished their wines. One of the men made another comment, “It’s a shame! Are you gay? Or are you not big enough down there to get a lady? If you’re a virgin at that age, something’s wrong with you.”

The line of casual “joke” questions was uncomfortable. Even Wu Lang, who has still hidden himself from sight in the darkness of the night some distance away, felt the light cringe on his face--something that was shared with the boy in the group. The youth’s face contorted in shame and said no more. The men continue to jeer and tease the kid for still remaining pure, and eventually, Wu Lang became fed up. However, being an introvert by nature, he couldn’t bring himself to save the boy from the unfortunate situation. Instead, he continued on his way with his patrol.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to remain mindless for the rest of the night. Instead, he couldn’t help but think about the conversation he overheard. Like the boy, Wu Lang was also untouched. He found no interest in such things, only focused on work and training on honing his martial arts and his various poison combinations. But with the issue presented to his mind, he couldn’t help but ask himself, _“is it not normal to not be interested in sex?”_

He never really thought about it, but still being young and impressionable, he now found himself questioning this. Out of habit whenever he felt the hungry anxiety tumbling in his stomach, he ran a finger past the right side of his mask--trailing from the corner of his lip to his cheek.

  
  
  


“Master,” Wu Lang greeted the man at the desk when he entered the large tent. He made sure to securely close the flap behind him, then he cupped his fist in brief respect before he gave his report. “The parameters are clear. I stationed several men around to keep watch.”

“Very well,” Dong Xiu murmured indifferently, his forehead supported with his fingers as he studied the paper on the desk. Wu Lang knew that it was important matters, so he didn’t intend to interrupt the man while he was working so diligently with the letters from generals from other stations as well as formation proposals and several maps with plans. However, Wu Lang felt very… confused. Being younger than Dong Xiu by many years, he felt it was appropriate to ask the only person he trusts the question he wondered.

“...i-issues aside,” the teenager barely choked out, his hazel and sea-green eyes falling to the floor in uncertainty. At the sound of the assassin’s stammer, Dong Xiu’s head picked up and he looked at his retainer in concern. Unfortunately, Wu Lang had his eyes turned, so he was unaware that he had caused his master worry. Instead, he continued to struggle with his words, his tender age showing for the first time in a long time as he stammered and let out a few sounds of “ _um…_ ”. It felt like hours before he finally decided to shed his shame and talk to Dong Xiu as a friend asking for advice, “Is it… odd to not feel anything?”

“What do you mean by that?” Dong Xiu misunderstood. Pale lips turned into a frown as his emerald eyes looked over the shorter man’s figure, inspecting for wounds or any sign of discomfort. “Are you cold? Where does it feel…” 

“I didn’t mean…” Luckily he had a mask over the lower portions of his face, or else his furious blush would have shown how flustered he was. The cardinal-haired youth hastily closed the distance between him and the sitting man and lowered his voice to a whisper, almost afraid of being overheard even though the marquis’ tent was pretty far from the rest of the camp. Only a few guards kept watch outside some distance away. However, the question Wu Lang wanted to ask was so embarrassing that he couldn’t bring himself to _not_ worry about if someone were to overhear. “I… I mean, is it odd to not feel for... “ he trailed off a little, unable to say the words. But his hesitancy had gotten Dong Xiu’s attention. The handsome man tilted his head, straightening his back as he gave Wu Lang his full concentration. Under the pressure of those softened, green eyes, the youngster struggled to continue his thought, “Um… n-not feel for… uh, s-sex…” His voice died a little at the last word.

He half-expected the raven-haired man to agree with what the pigs outside had said to the young soldier, but Dong Xiu’s face remained nonchalant as he asked with no confusion in his voice--as if he wasn’t asking a question, but making a statement, “Why would it be odd?”

“...” Wu Lang averted his different colored eyes, swallowing as he did so. Dong Xiu knew that something was bothering Wu Lang, and he reached his hand up to pat the teenager’s arm, speaking, “What’s up? It’s not like you to ask these kinds of questions.”

“W-well… I overheard some men outside. They said that something was wrong if a person my age didn’t…” 

“Hm,” Dong Xiu leaned back in his chair and glanced his eyes up in momentary thought, his legs spreading a little as he relaxed himself to a more comfortable posture. “You’re seventeen-and-a-half this month, right?” 

“C-correct.” 

“I keep forgetting that you’re so young. You act too mature for your age sometimes. Well, I think...,” Dong Xiu returned his eyes to Wu Lang’s, emerald eyes gazing deeply into the henna and turquoise eyes of the other. “That it’s perfectly normal to go at a pace that is right for you. Not everything is for everyone no matter what stage in life they are in.”

Wu Lang could feel his body heat up anew at the words, knowing that the man had always been supportive. Dong Xiu was wise and gracious, even if he does a lot of pretty nasty things in pursuit of gratification. But not once had the man humiliated or made him feel terrible since the day they had become friends. Yet, even with his friend trying to soothe his unease, Wu Lang still was plagued with thoughts now that the topic had been brought up. His eyes turned from Dong Xiu in dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, even if he wanted to hide the stabbing frustration from his companion, the marquis had enough experience with women to pick up on indirect clues; the older gentleman easily detected the teenager’s mood and sighed. 

“Okay. What’s the problem here?” he asked. 

A silence stretched between them; Wu Lang unwilling to voice out his thoughts properly and Dong Xiu wanting to find out what is making his normally composed retainer so unsettled. Green orbs didn’t leave the masked, crimsoned-haired demon, studying--waiting.

Finding it unavoidable now, Wu Lang barely squeezed his voice from his tightened throat, “I… I want to know what… it’s like.” 

Dong Xiu’s brows rose. Instead of the mocking that most men would pounce on when given the opportunity to tantalize a virgin, the elegantly robed marquis nodded his head slowly and said, “Hmm… Well, unfortunately, we don’t have women in this camp. I would give you my oldest daughter, but she’s far too young for marriage. Wait at least nine more years--” 

“You…” Wu Lang couldn’t help his body’s action. His distress was so great that he hid his burning face with his hands. His mask felt uncomfortable. “C-Can’t you….” 

“...” Dong Xiu waited patiently for his shy friend to finish his thought.

Wu Lang found that his initial request sounded improper, so he switched his words around, “I… I don’t think I can try with someone I don’t know…” 

“...Well, you don’t have a childhood sweetheart,” Dong Xiu stood up from his chair. He was at least a head taller than the rouge-haired other; he raised a hand to ruffle those fair locks in a friendly manner. “And knowing your cold, combative, and introverted personality, you would scare off all the women before they even think about sharing a bed with you.”

Before he could stop himself, the frustrated teenager huffed. His mask protruding a bit; the pouty lips evident even though the black cloth covered his face. Wu Lang barely heard himself mutter under his breath like a brat, “Who said it had to be with a woman? Why can't I try it with y...” 

Both of them stilled at the utterance. But Wu Lang was the only one consumed with fear.

No, he never thought about his sexuality or interests. He knew that relationships between men were rare and not at all frowned upon in the demon realm, but it didn’t change the fact that his bad habit of getting overly anxious at the smallest things caused him to feel panic at the moment. The handsome Dong Xiu is a straight, twenty-six-year-old man with currently five wives, two mistresses, and three legitimate daughters. Although the marquis was exceedingly handsome--well-groomed facial features that were too elegant for this world; high-quality satin robes of green or cream colors; long-black hair pulled into a horsetail and a white tassel draped over his shoulder as it fell from behind his exposed ear; a decently frame that was neither too broad nor too slim--there was no way the marquis would be interested in helping Wu Lang experiment in regards what made sex so addicting. Especially since Dong Xiu hails from the royal family, and, on the other hand, Wu Lang was from deplorable blood... 

Wu Lang didn’t even realize that he was trembling from the overwhelming anxiety until he felt a pair of hands rubbing up and down his arms in a soothing action. 

“Hey, hey. What are you scared about?” Dong Xiu wanted to laugh. This was the first time he had seen his retainer get so frightful. Usually, Wu Lang was cold and felt like an impenetrable fortress of ice. The young demon would be so precise and ruthless when slicing through bodies, yet he was easily anxious and startled when it came to matters of the heart. The young man was perfect as a fierce murderer, but take him out of his field of expertise and he behaved like a lost and frightened child. 

He knew that his young friend never had an interest in pleasure or romance. It was nearly the turn of their second year of recognizing each other as friends since they battled through swarms of adversaries together for survival. They had spent approximately every single day together since then--so much so that Dong Xiu couldn’t bring himself to think of Wu Lang as some disposable stranger like the rest of the troops. Although those gloved hands could kill a thousand men with no hesitation and craft poisons that can fell large demon beast, the man trusted his retainer with the life of his future, oftentimes he left the lad to take care of his daughters when no babysitter was available and the mothers were busy with family meetings. He never doubted Wu Lang; every time he poured his faith in the young man, the assassin would always do things that made him prouder to call him a friend. 

Dong Xiu wasn’t at all dumb at Wu Lang’s unspoken request. If it had been any other person, he would turn his face away and call them disgusting. However, Wu Lang was still growing--trying to get a feel of what is right for him. Although he was proficient as a solider, his private life was more important than his skills on the battlefield. In the end, he will withdraw from his line of work. Even if the younger believed he wouldn’t have a life outside of war and bloodshed, Dong Xiu already made the vow in his heart that he will not let the boy perish on the battlefield. He wanted him to retire from combat and politics, get married, have kids, and grow until one-hundred.

Thinking of it that way, he didn’t find himself offended or disgusted at the boy for wanting to experiment with someone he felt comfortable with. Even if that meant getting in bed with another man.

“Stop trembling. If you want to experiment, it’s fine,” Dong Xiu pulled the younger into a comforting hug, resting his chin on the crown of the flaming red head of hair as the shorter man continued to shake. Green eyes looked over to the bed, barely big enough to fit two bodies. He stroked the other’s hair as he continued, “You don’t have to if you do not really want to. Are you sure about it?”

Wu Lang realized that his master understood the embarrassing, unvoiced request, and he couldn’t help but feel more flustered. With his face planted into the other’s muscular chest, he nodded timidly--almost forgetting how to breathe with their sudden closeness. It wasn’t rare for Dong Xiu to treat him to physical affection, but it was uncomfortable every time. Not in the wrong way, but in the way where he wasn’t used to it. 

When they pulled away, Wu Lang avoided eye-contact with his master. Instead, his pretty eyes landed on the papers that had been ignored on the desk, and he couldn’t help but ask in a small voice, “Um… Do you want to f-finish…?” 

“That can wait until later,” Dong Xiu chuckled with a shrug. The mature man looked towards the flap to check if the latch was secure, and when he confirmed that it was, he took Wu Lang’s hand in his and led the youth to the mattress that was only a few steps away from the desk. The darkly dressed assassin reddened when he realized that the marquis was getting immediately into it. 

“W-Wait, D-Dong Xiu!”

“What? I’m only teaching you, right?” Dong Xiu flashed a grin at the younger; the blush was now noticeable all over Wu Lang’s face that even the mask was of no use. With their legs barely touching the side of the bed, Dong Xiu released his hold on the other’s gloved hand and reached up to remove that troublesome mask. A spark of curiosity filled him; in all the days that they have been around each other, Wu Lang never took off his black covering. He didn’t even eat in the same room as other people. The man knew that whatever was behind this black veil was important. Yet, as soon as his fingers gripped at the strings that wrapped over those soft ears, Wu Lang hastily clasped the man’s wrist, his heterochromia eyes widening like a terrified child. 

“W-Wait, no… Can’t you…”

“Hm?” Dong Xiu wasn’t disappointed. Having dealt with many virgins in his life, he knew that patience and understanding was the best way to give both parties a good time in bed. He paused his actions, but pressed lightly, “Wu Lang, the first step of bedroom activities is a kiss. How am I going to teach you how to kiss if you have this in the way?”

Wu Lang faltered, but his grasp did not soften. He asked timidly and numbly, “C-Can’t you put a bag over my head?” 

Dong Xiu was taken aback by the words. His brows furrowed and his soft smile quickly turned into a frown. Wu Lang realized what he had said and deflected his eyes--and much to Dong Xiu’s horror, the henna and sea-green eyes became glossy and wet. He had never seen the teenager cry even when he almost died from a mortal strike. Thinking that Wu Lang had suffered merciless insults from the soilers, a rush of overprotectiveness came over the adult and he spoke with a wave of rising anger present in his voice, “Who said such a thing?”

“...” 

“Wu Lang. Who. Said. That,” He now forced his intimidating ‘daddy-voice’ on the boy, cupping the sides of the teenager’s face and soothingly rubbed his thumbs against the fabric. Although his voice had gotten cold, his soft actions of affections made it so that the younger knew that his master was not at all mad at him.

It worked since it seemed to take the kid out of whatever he was thinking and reply, “N-no one… I just overheard…”

“Overheard what?” 

“Th-that guys would… put a bag over an u-ugly person’s face…” the timid young man visibly grimaced at the word _“ugly”_. 

“You think you’re ugly?” Although Dong Xiu had never seen fully what Wu Lang’s face looks like, he believed he wasn’t ugly. After all, the youth had flawlessly shaped brows, a straight nose, and absolutely enthralling eyes and soft, rare, crimson hair. He could only imagine how much more perfect the rest of his face would be. With the proper lifestyle and self-care, Wu Lang would grow up to be such an attractive gentleman. To watch him get married off to plenty of women made Dong Xiu anticipate eagerly for the future. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Wu Lang was quivering again, and he made a few weak sounds of protest. With the grasp on his wrist weakened, Dong Xiu took it as consent to proceed with his work. He reached for the strings again and slowly unhooked them from around the other’s hidden ears. With much care and anticipation (although Dong Xiu never let it show in his expression; keeping it schooled), he moved the other’s mask. Wu Lang’s reddening eyes had filled with more tears and his gloved fingers gently pressed the lower portions of his mask to his face, keeping the last bit hidden--keeping his lips and a portion of his right cheek covered. 

“You… You’ll be disgusted,” Wu Lang warned softly, his voice so weak and fragile. This really wasn’t the fearsome young warrior that Dong Xiu had known in these past two years--and he was happy he is able to see Wu Lang at his most exposed. 

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Dong Xiu reminded firmly. With just a simple tug, the fabric came loose and Dong Xiu let the now useless item fall to the floor.

He wasn’t wrong. Wu Lang had the beginnings of a beautiful face. Not too maiden-like, but not too masculine either. His delicate age showed in the soft shape of his jaw. His skin was smooth, and the skin of the left side of his face had no scars or blemishes. However, now with the younger’s vulnerability exposed to him, he understood why Wu Lang never showed his face to anyone.

The left side of his mouth was perfectly shaped, upper lips carved in such a distinct arc and those bottom petals would have been smooth and tempting to nibble on, but as it spread to the right side, it was as if the gods had played a cruel trick on a boy so promising. His rose lips transitioned to wriggly lines of flesh as if his genetics forgot how to complete a pair of lips and ran the rest of the skin to the center of the right side of his face in a disorderly fashion. From the jaw to the cheek, it was lined by skin that seemed as if it was burned by hot acid and the right treatment was never given, so it healed like that. It didn’t help that it was discolored, a tint of pink and obvious scarring around the malformed patches of skin that failed to cooperate. The damaged portion looked so red and tender, Dong Xiu wondered if it had hurt. He was nearly scared to reach out and scrape a finger along the textured skin--scared to cause harm to his precious retainer.

More tears flowed from the youth’s eyes as Dong Xiu took his time examining the abomination. He was trembling uncontrollably again, afraid that his first and only friend would find him too repulsive to continue being associated with him. His half-deformed lips trembled and he struggled to find words. He could only think, _I’m sorry. You can put a bag over my head if you’d like. I won’t mind it._

“Were you born like this?” Dong Xiu asked quietly, his green eyes observing the face presented to him. Wu lang could only tremble. He didn’t know the answer to that. His face had been disfigured his entire life, but he didn’t know if it was a cruel trick from the gods or the result of cruel actions done onto him when he was a newborn. With a bit of a struggle, he whispered a shaky, “I don’t know”. He couldn’t tell if the marquis was disgusted with his looks; those green orbs didn’t change in the slightest and the voice held no warmth or disgust. Wu Lang felt lost and scared for the first time in a long time. 

He opened his mouth wide to say something, but he was caught by surprise when his mangled lips were blocked by something soft. It didn’t even occur to him that Dong Xiu’s face was touching his own--smooth lips pressed against his textured ones. Wu Lang didn’t realize he was being kissed until he felt something slimy enter his mouth and explore. It made his body tingle with goosebumps and he couldn’t help but widen his eyes at the foreign feeling. He stood dumb and still as a rock, his own tongue still when the more skilled muscle lapped, poked, and attempted to entice him to an exotic dance. Wu Lang even forgot how to breathe, afraid that Dong Xiu would become disgusted if he moved at all. So he was perfectly still, mouth open and invaded as the older gentleman cupped his neck gently and explored his moist cavern. It didn’t take long for Dong Xiu to pull away by a bit, huffing air onto the now wet and redding lips of the younger. Wu Lang felt a strange excitement running on the top of his skin when Dong Xiu latched onto the distorted bottom petal and sucked, murmuring as he nibbled, “Relax. Follow my lead.” 

Awkwardly and with a strange groan, Wu Lang exhaled the deep breath he had been holding before he pushed forward and returned the treatment to the smooth upper petal. He bit gently, sucked with gentle pressure, and flicked the soft skin with his lip--mimicking the actions done to his own lips. It wasn’t long until Dong Xiu invaded his open mouth again, his tongue darting in and lapping at the inexperienced one. Knowing that this was all for the sake of learning, Wu Lang was timid but returned the action. Before he knew it, he was gripped harshly behind the head, their tongue wrestling with each other, and Dong Xiu was sucking the air out of his mouth. Having never kissed anyone before, Wu Lang was too shocked at the sudden progress that he forgot to swallow his saliva--the clear juice dribbling out of their joined mouths and trailing down his chin. He heard the older man growl in the kiss, and the sound made his entire body heat up. Self-conscious as always, Wu Lang caught a faint whiff of a certain scent he had never before detected in his nearly eighteen years of living.

When they pulled away, the teenager was panting heavily, his face entirely crimson. When his eyes glanced at his master, he was slightly shocked to see the green-color of those elegantly shaped eyes brighter. Dong Xiu showed no sign of arousal, but Wu Lang felt things happening to his body that he didn’t know could happen. And it felt uncomfortable. Not in a bad way, but in the way where he wasn’t used to it. 

“You’re okay?” Dong Xiu’s voice was thicker. Wu Lang was quick to detect that. However, all words were sucked out of him during the deep kiss. He could only nod while trying to regain control of his breathing. The taller man nodded, then his hands trailed to Wu Lang’s robes--not exactly making action to remove them, but just glossing his hands over his body. Wu Lang was startled at the action, his body reacting on its own and pressing up against Dong Xiu. Dong Xiu grunted, arms immediately wrapping around the shorter man’s body and tilting both of them over to the bed. They both fell onto the not-so-soft bed, Wu Lang trapped under the man above him. With the other man laying on top of him, Wu Lang knew he couldn’t hide whatever was happening below the belt. His odd-feeling crotch was pressed against Dong Xiu’s thigh--but likewise, a hard object was pressed against his thigh. It was painful and for a moment he thought it was some sort of item that Dong Xiu forgot to unequip before getting into the action. 

“D-Dong Xiu!” Wu Lang was startled. His young heart inside pounded so hard that it nearly hearted. Out of irrational insecurity, the deep crimson-haired youth said as he rose a gloved hand to cover his distorted portions, “Aren’t I disgusting?”

The eastern marquis didn’t say any words, but he removed the hand with a gentle swat and planted a few kisses on the disfigured portion of the younger demon’s face. Then he took Wu Lang’s other hand and led it to the area between them--the soft hand coming into contact with the hardness that pressed against his thigh. In a heated and husky voice, Dong Xiu whispered in his ear, “If you were disgusting, how come this fellow is so hard?”

Wu Lang was not a stranger to hearing Dong Xiu’s provocative remarks, but this was the first time he had been on the receiving end of them. Realizing what his hand was touching, the youth’s body burned up. He couldn’t tell why. Perhaps from embarrassment or from how Dong Xiu sounded so heated and irresistible against his ear. 

Then he felt the man’s hips move, grounding against his thigh and hand. Wu Lang could feel the heated hardness press further into his skin, and he couldn’t help but hitch his breath. It was at that moment when something large grasped at his own clothed groin, and he flinched at the contact. 

“Come on, boy. Follow my actions,” Dong Xiu encouraged, emphasizing what he was talking about by continuing the movement of his hips. “Thrust your hips against my hand.” 

The movement was different from his combat training, but with a heavy breath, Wu Lang gave an experimental, shuttering roll of his hips. As soon as he did, the area below was suddenly tingling and hot--it wasn’t at all a bad feeling, but it was something he wasn’t to. Containing his moan, Wu Lang let out a thick breath of hot air--his eyes blown wide by the new simulation. Dong Xiu had stopped his humping when he felt the other press against his palm. He licked his dried lips and said, “Again. More confident this time.” 

The young man shuttered his eyes and repeated the action. As soon as the hips lifted against his palm, Dong Xiu rubbed his hand against the hardening spot on those black leather trousers. This action caused the seventeen-and-a-half-year-old to let out his first, lewd moan.

Honestly, Dong Xiu didn’t know what made him so turned on. First off, he never really did it with men nor has he ever felt any sort of attraction towards the bodies of men. Secondly, under normal circumstances, he’d view the younger demon as a close friend. Thirdly, he should have been put off by the deformation on the other’s young face-- _should have_. For some reason, even with the distortion, he couldn’t bring himself to feel horrified at the sight. He could blame it on the kiss, seeing how it got much more passionate than he anticipated. He wouldn’t be Dong Xiu if he didn’t engage in this for the lust--and more and more he discovered that he was not against the male body as he originally thought he was.

He did care for the boy, however. He did not want to use this youthful and naive trust just for his own gain. So he did what he was asked to do: teach. 

After having Wu Lang ground against his hand, he hummed in satisfaction before he pulled away. He examined the brightly colored expression. He detected confusion, as well as the beginnings of lust, take root in those hazel and turquoise eyes. Feeling a tenderness for his dear, young friend, he bent over and placed soft kisses on his eyes, the heated breaths of the adolescent ghosting over his chin. 

“Very good,” Dong Xiu praised in a gentle voice, still planting kisses on the virgin teenager’s eyes. “And now we disrobe.”

The two figures didn’t take long to strip. In the night with only a candle to illuminate their figures, they discarded their clothing onto the floor and faced each other on the bed. Wu Lang was a complete stranger to Dong Xiu’s nudity, so his face burned red color almost as vivid as his hair as he shyly gawked at how muscled and perfect his master’s body was. Meanwhile, Dong Xiu examined his friend’s body. Green eyes were collected as he took in the boy’s body. Wu Lang was indeed toned, his chest well-defined and abs tight and pronounced from years of training as an assassin. He wasn’t too muscular--slim and perfect enough to easily escape into the darkness where he belonged. Even the erect dick was cute if Dong Xiu had to actually describe it. Slim and short--but not too short to be considered laughable. It was definitely smaller than Dong Xiu’s grand length, but it was perhaps average length for something like a human. Perhaps an inch smaller than that.

He knew that Wu Lang was apprehensive, so he chuckled and reached into the dresser, pulling out a container the size of his palm. He flicked the lid open and scooped out a glob of clear jelly. Originally, it was for medicinal purposes, but it was the right consistency to be used as a lubricant. However, he never planned to take the man’s virginity on the backside. Not unless asked. Dong Xiu placed the container to the side of the bed and warmed the substance in his hands. When it was spread fine enough on his palms, he leaned close to the smaller body and breathed in his ear, “Relax. Let me know if you feel uncomfortable, alright?” 

The crimson-haired boy had his eyes glued at his own erection, watching as a large, greased hand gently clasped around it. The sensation was weird, but it made him shiver in anticipation--his body already having a taste of what pleasure felt like and it throbbed and yearned for more. The standing length twitched in the skilled hands of the eastern marquis, a gush of clear fluids running from the small hole where urine usually came from and dripping onto the boy’s thighs. Dong Xiu took the silence for acceptance and began to leisurely move his hand. It was no different from masturbating. The only variation was the fact that he was applying his experience of the act to the more inexperienced fellow. He coated the entire length with the slick substance before he rubbed all the spots that he knew felt right. He pumped the length and rubbed the modest and leaking head and faint sounds of wetness were the only thing sounding in the room for a time before the whimpers started--his green eyes never leaving Wu Lang’s face, searching for any sort of discomfort. For a moment, the mature adult couldn’t help but get lost in the change of expression on the adolescent’s face. He was indeed watching a virgin sense pleasure for the first time. From how those half-disfigured lips trembled and parted, to how hazy and unfocused those eyes became, to how the breathing came out in short bursts of moderate mewls. He was amazed by how such a man who held his voice leveled and menacing on the battleground could make high-pitched noises like a kitten when pleasured.

“You feel good?” Dong Xiu whispered, blowing air against Wu Lang’s ear. His other hand had pushed back the loose, red locks and he clasped his lips around the earlobe, gently teething at the flap of sensitive skin. At the action, the soft, pleasured mewling had become a bit louder and desperate. Wu Lang was shuddering and his hands frantically grasped at Dong Xiu, one around the hand that pleasured the slim erection while the other bit into his bicep. Normally, Dong Xiu wouldn’t mind having a bit of pain in the bedroom, but he realized that Wu Lang was a lot stronger than his age showed and he couldn’t help but hiss at the pain of sharp nails piercing his skin. His teeth accidentally biting harder on the heated earlobe. The loud, pleasured whimpers abruptly stopped as the teenager stiffened.

Dong Xiu still had his slickened hand moving against the modest erection when he felt it shudder violently with its first orgasm. He pulled away to watch the youth unravel before his eyes: the slender and white figure spazzing, eyes rolling back, and his half-deformed mouth separated with repressed noises as the erection jerked and spurted out thick white fluids. Dong Xiu decided to be generous and paused his hand’s movements, allowing the boy to ride the waves of extreme pleasure uninterrupted.

When Wu Lang’s hard-hitting climax ended, he was trembling and sobbing uncontrollably--each tremor of his body growing more violent as Dong Xiu milked the rest of the semen from the virgin manhood; firmly stroking the length and applying pressures at just the right points to make the white fluid gently rise out of the hole like a fountain. Although he was a straight man, Dong Xiu didn’t mind if he had gotten wet with the sticky substance. Instead, he planted his lips against the flushed boy’s temples and gently shushed his sobbing. “There, there…”

“D-Dong Xiu! Dong Xiu!” Wu Lang whimpered his name, his body still trembling and his tears still dripping from his odd eyes. He didn’t know why he was calling his master’s name, but he chanted it as if it were his lifeline. The experience was scary. He was out of control and his body felt foreign to him. He wouldn’t say that it felt bad--in fact, it felt surprisingly good--but he was frightened. He didn’t know what could ease the intense beating of his heart or the violent shivering of his body, and his sensitive organ continued to ooze fluids under the delicate strokes. He was terrified at how good it all felt and of how out of control his body was. He called out again, seeking solace to ease this swelling panic, “Dong Xiu…!” 

“I’m here,” Dong Xiu was exceedingly gentle during the ordeal. With his free arm, he pulled the trembling figure closer to his chest. He had stopped milking the semen out of the length in his hand, but he didn’t release it. Instead, he tenderly rubbed the head to keep it hard. Wu Lang might have had the first climax ever in his entire life, but Dong Xiu was not going to let him off with just one release. The man pressed his lips against the younger demon’s forehead--directly on top of the demonic sigil--and whispered, “Deep breaths, Wu Lang. Take your time.”

When Wu Lang fully recovered from the first climax in his life, he was calm enough to only have the shivers instead of the severe tremors that left him frightened. His heartbeat was still quickened, but it didn’t feel as scary as before. Even his dick stopped leaking, but because of Dong Xiu’s actions, it stood erect. However, Wu Lang didn’t know that it was because of Dong Xiu’s gentle caresses and he assumed that he had somehow become broken. 

“D-Dong Xiu,” the teenager was ashamed. His thighs and the bedsheets were soiled with his own bodily fluids and he couldn’t help but feel disgusted in himself. He assumed that his master would yell at him for his lack of self-control, but instead, he felt his hair being stroked back and the warm, smooth voice say, “Are you okay? Do you remember what I did?” 

“H-hm…” the young demon nodded, not confident in himself to speak with his throat tight from his pleasured--yet scared--sobbing earlier. Of course, he remembers. He watched that large and pale hand stroke him.

“Alright. Be sure to do that to yourself when you have the desire to feel pleasure,” Dong Xiu explained as if he was merely giving a lesson. “It probably won’t feel as nice as having someone else do it to you, but it satisfies the need for a little while.” 

“Hn…” 

“Now,” Dong Xiu pulled away from Wu Lang a little and smiled down at his little apprentice. “What else do you want to learn today? I promise I won’t make you come as quickly as the first time.” 

Wu Lang tilted his head at his (sex) teacher, his mind at a loss of what was being presented to him. Numbly, the young demon replied, “I… don’t know.”

“Well, I can give you a list,” Dong Xiu was still hard and aroused, so he was going to get one of two things done tonight and that’s either an oral or penetration. Although he was selfish in his intentions to take advantage of the situation, Wu Lang would be the only person he will never force himself upon. If the boy wanted to stop here, he would bid him a good night. If he wanted to continue, he would not do anything without consent. Compared to the women that Dong Xiu had drugged and raped, Wu Lang was someone very special and he couldn’t treat the young adolescent the same way as women. 

Wu Lang stood just as high in importance as his first wife and daughters. Everything else falls behind him as worldly pleasures. 

“We can do another handjob, or oral, I can play around with your body to find sensitive spots, or we can even anal if you’re feeling that adventurous,” he stroked back the teenager’s hair some more. Before he let Wu Lang decide, he added onto his sentence for transparency sake, “For the handjob and oral, you will have to help me as well. I’m so hard it’s beginning to hurt.” 

“And anal?” Wu Lang peeked up at him in curiosity. Dong Xiu nearly died on the inside. For a second he thought the younger picked anal. However, he quickly realized it was a question and he didn’t get overly excited--knowing that the thought will spook the young virgin.

“It means I get to put this,” he took Wu Lang’s hand and led it to his standing member. When those soft fingers touched the sizable head, he quickly reached over with his other hand down past the teenager’s genitals. The sudden advancement made Wu Lang dumb, and he didn’t put up any resistance when Dong Xiu laid him flat on the bed. The teenager did jolt in surprise when he felt lubricated fingers poke at his twitching entrance. Taking pleasure in the boy’s inexperienced shock, Dong Xiu finished with a smirk, “In here.”

“Ah, not--” Wu Lang immediately yelped, rushing back to his sitting position. Dong Xiu allowed him to sit up, even removing his naughty hand from between the younger’s two shares. The man didn’t assume the more youthful demon to mutter in a slightly joking tone, his half-deformed lip still relatively close together as the young demon murmured with his face a slight tint of red, “Well, I would expect that I would be the top…” 

“...” Dong Xiu decided to get off the topic relatively quickly, or else he couldn’t promise his pride that he wouldn’t submit to another man. 

Clearing his throat, Dong Xiu waited for Wu Lang’s decision. However, Wu Lang was completely new to this part of life, and he became mute from fright. He knew that he had to repay the favor as well, but with his inexperience, he doubted that his master would derive any pleasure from it. His hand was still touching the other’s mighty length, but it trembled slightly. He knew that the marquis enjoyed pleasure, and an irrational part of him feared that Dong Xiu would force him to submit. But if that were the case, then why did he even bother to come to Dong Xiu for this? Almost instantly, he squashed that fear; he trusted Dong Xiu and he knew what he would be signing up for when he walked into the tent.

“I…” 

“You can always call it a night as well,” Dong Xiu’s hand patted Wu Lang’s shoulder as his handsome lips spread into a soft smile. The adult sighed heavily, “You’ve already had a taste of what it’s like, so you had gotten what you came for.” 

“But, you…” Wu Lang took a chaste glance down at the thick member that his naked hands trembled on. He didn’t bother to keep his sight on it, feeling his body heat up with embarrassment. “D-didn’t you say that it hurts…”

“Yes, but I can ignore it,” Dong Xiu was benevolent this night--suppressing his desires for the interest of his young companion. “After all, tonight is all about you.”

Since becoming friends, Wu Lang disliked the idea of Dong Xiu being in pain. Feeling as if he owed his master more than enough already, the adolescent slowly wrapped his fingers around the large length and uncertainly began to move his palm around the blushed head. Much to his surprise, Dong Xiu let out a sound and his chest heaved in anticipation. The young demon studied his master’s expression, wondering if what he was doing was even remotely right. Dong Xiu took this as a sign that the youngster wished to continue, and he cursed heatedly under his breath. The red-haired demon didn’t know if he was doing anything right, but he decided to become bold. Twisting his body slightly, he momentarily took his hand from the hot length of his master and scooped a small bit of the medicinal jelly into his hands. He warmed it up in his palms before he returned his now damp hand to the length.

“Handjobs it is then?” Dong Xiu asked, smirking down at the youth. Wu Lang blushed and averted his eyes as he tried his best to apply the knowledge of the act onto the large girth in his palm. Meanwhile, the more experienced gentleman returned his own hand to Wu Lang. He pumped the modest length a few times before an idea struck him. “Ah. Actually, I just thought of something better, if you don’t mind.” 

“Hm?” Wu Lang hummed in curiosity, innocently tilting his head at the other man. It was only a moment after did they shifted their positions. They were both on their sides, but Dong Xiu had his head down at Wu Lang’s waists and Wu Lang was embarrassingly face-to-face with the hot, thick rod that stuck up nearly against his face. From below him, he heard Dong Xiu hum, “You can do whatever you want, but since you’ll one day have this, I might as well show you what a good blowjob is like.”

“H-huh??” Wu Lang was still confused, staring dumbly at the organ before him. As he stared, he could feel his face heat up even more--but it wasn’t for long because he was suddenly distracted by something hot and moist encasing his most sensitive spot. The teenager grunted and shuddered at the tingling feeling that rushed through his body from the area down low then he hurriedly glanced down in a near-complete panic to find out what was happening. The inexperienced youth nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw Dong Xiu’s pale lips parted and taking in the head of his length--Wu Lang’s immediate thoughts being _‘oh no’_ and ‘ _but isn’t it dirty?’_. 

“D-Dong Xiu--” he tried to call out, his hands immediately forgetting about servicing his master as reaching down to push the other man away. As soon as trembling hands met the other’s strong jaw, there was a defiant growl and instead of pulling away, Dong Xiu sunk his mouth over the slim length more. Wu Lang completely forgot that he should be repaying his master--his mind going completely blank at the strange sensation growing rapidly in his stomach. His hips studdered as he felt something warm and slimy rub against it. It felt as if he were melting.

“Ah--ahh--!!”

Unable to do anything useful with his hands anymore, Wu Lang gripped at the other’s body the best he could; one hand gripping at the muscled thighs that he pressed his forehead against while his other hand clawed at the skin of the larger body’s sides. He was unable to finish what he started even with the other’s private part nearly pressed against his neck. All he could focus on was the frightening feeling of his body going out of control again, feeling more and more lost the deeper the length sank into the warm cavern. The deformed youth nearly screamed when he felt pressure down there, the warm and wet walls hugging his member so pleasantly for just a moment before relaxing, then again. Wu Lang shivered, unable to understand the hot and itchy sensation. In an act of instinct, his hips gave a full thrust into the warmth that pulled. From there it felt like the dam was overflowing; he couldn’t stop himself from giving a few paces of full thrusts, even when he heard the muffled grunts and felt the walls spazz around his length. It was on his fourth thrust did he manage to retain some sort of self-control and paused, panting heavily against the other’s smooth, creamy skin. Wu Lang was trembling again, biting his lower lip hard as he tried to regain control of his breathing. It probably was a few moments of stillness before he felt a large hand clasp around his own, the position a little awkward, and lead it to the burning length that pressed against his neck. It was then that Wu Lang remembered what he was supposed to do, and timidly he rubbed and palmed the organ, his temples still pressed against Dong Xiu’s thigh. In return, the easter marquis continued his actions--bobbing his head slowly as he pulled the length out and pushed it back in. 

The two continued with their mutual pleasure, growing more passionate as their desires became more carnal. It ended when the younger couldn’t restrain himself and loudly released for the second time that night, passing out soon after the second intense climax. He couldn’t bring himself to recall or care about if he had soiled any part of his master; his entire body lost strength and stamina and he quickly fell into a deep slumber. 

  
  


Wu Lang woke up to the sound of muffled voices. When his heavy eyelids opened, he moved his parted lips to swallow back a pool of saliva that had been dripping down the corner of his lips and soaking into the pillows below him. He wasn’t entirely awake as he shifted his body, relaxed under the warm quilts.

“...parting to the battlefield,” the muffled voice from outside became clear as Wu Lang aroused himself from sleep. “General Dong, may I enter?” 

That was when Wu Lang realized several things were wrong. He wasn’t at his own tent and his face was uncovered. The young demon bolted upwards from the comfort of the mattress, his anxiety consuming him as he covered his half-malformed face with his cool palm. His wide, different colored eyes scanned the area when he recalled the events of last night. 

The bed sheets were clean and different from the one that they did their activities on. Wu Lang himself had a very light robe on and he felt refreshed and clean. In fact, taking a whiff of the skin of his palm, he found it to be scented with a luxurious floral perfume. It definitely wasn’t something Wu Lang had the privilege to be bathing in. The adolescent didn’t dare to think that his master was kind enough to wash him and enrobe him with a fresh, simple attire. From the desk some distance away, Dong Xiu’s voice was deep and calm, “No. Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you at the entrance.”

When the faint, heavy footsteps faded away, Dong Xiu glanced over at the teenager that sat on his bed. Wu Lang expected some sort of disgust to make its way on his master’s face or some sort of awkwardness to follow, but the eastern marquis--dressed in mellow, off-white satin robes and his hair combed and pulled back-- turned his head and smiled at the awoken assassin. 

“Ah, sorry. Did we wake you?” Dong Xiu’s voice was casual, and the smile was reassuring. Wu Lang blinked before he answered with a slightly hoarse voice, his hand muffling his words, “No.”

“Take that hand off of your face and eat up,” Dong Xiu stood up and walked towards the table beside the bed. It was then that Wu Lang realized that there was a meal prepared. A simple yet rich soup that was usually only reserved for the high generals of the camp. Wu Lang had never tasted the meal before, and the spectacle made his stomach grumble. It was obvious that the meal had been cooled a lot since the moment it was served, and besides the bowl sat a cup of water. Wu Lang hesitated, his eyes glancing towards Dong Xiu and the meal as if he were uncertain. The marquis realized that his retainer was hesitating and he raised a brow at the younger demon. 

“Well? Are you not hungry?” 

“Th-that… I mean,” Wu Lang kept his hand at the place where it was at, but he lowered his head and mumbled, “Don’t… I look ho-horrifying…?” 

“...” 

“...I--” 

“Wu Lang,” Dong Xiu sat on the bed and reached out to ruffle the insecure teenager’s head. He pronounced his words carefully and slowly, making sure that the other heard them clearly, “Your looks have no impact on our friendship. As you can tell from last night, I see nothing wrong with this.” Since he saw that the younger man had no intention of parting his hand from his face, Dong Xiu did it for him; a larger hand clasped around the assassin’s slim wrist and pulled it away. The horrifying sight of the disfigurement was once again shown to another person, and Wu Lang couldn’t help but flinch. It was such a natural instinct to expect to be mocked and abused for looking so different. Instead of recoiling disgust, Dong Xiu reached up and stroked his knuckles against the uneven bumps of skin. “This is Wu Lang, and I’m delighted to see him. Do you understand?”

It was the first time that anyone had ever come to accept him for how he looked. Instantly, Wu Lang felt his chest tremble and his throat tighten. His eyes stung and, just as quickly, tears flowed. His half-deformed lips trembled into a frown as he silently cried. Dong Xiu was a father to three beautiful girls, so he knew how to comfort the younger generation. He wrapped his arms around the shivering, small frame and pulled him close to his chest, a hand stroking the red hair soothingly. Being embraced so tenderly, Wu Lang couldn’t stop the flow of tears and he sobbed into the satin robes of his master. 

Dong Xiu managed to calm down his subordinate and get the growing teen to eat some portion of the meal. In a joking manner, the marquis asked, “Well? How was last night?” 

“ _Terrifying_ ,” Wu Lang, now that he had something in his stomach and he no longer felt the fear of being hated, answered with no hesitation. He couldn’t lie. Both times that he lost control of his body and felt as if he were going to explode and melt were scary to him. Even after experiencing the act, now that he had been sober from the spell of lust and terror, he realized that he disliked it quite a bit. However, it seemed like Dong Xiu already knew this. The older man laughed and ruffled the red locks again, saying, “You sounded terrified.” 

“I was.” 

“Next time, you should try with a woman.” 

“Hm… I don’t…” The teenager felt his cheeks burn at the embarrassment that crept on him. He didn’t want to voice it out loud, but he already made the resolve to never engage in such things ever again. It certainly wasn’t up his alley.

Dong Xiu chortled. Then he stood from the bed and took his sword. The long weapon couldn’t be hoisted to his waist, so the eastern marquis held onto the sheath with his right hand, resting it by his side. Before he left the tent, he looked over his shoulder at the boy and said, “When you’re finished, meet me on the battlefield. And don’t worry, the guards heard nothing last night. And even if they did, they didn’t.” Wu Lang had a mouth full of broth when he heard the last part, and he couldn’t decide if he wanted to swallow it or spit it back out. Dong Xiu chuckled handsomely and added, “Your uniform is on the chair if you wanna get out of my night robes.”

When Dong Xiu left with a soft, 'innocent' whistle, Wu Lang spluttered out the stew and laughed.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Wu Lang, nineteen now, was enjoying some noodles with his friend, kneeling at the patio under a full moon night. The two gazed at the pond in silence. He didn’t know what made him think of that far off memory--a very insignificant night between both of them due to his own childish insecurities. His mask was wrapped around his neck, moved so that he can properly eat. Since that day, he had come to accept that Dong Xiu did not care for the disfigurement on his face. For the first time since getting out of his hellish childhood, he had someone to enjoy a meal with. As his friend was lightly chatting about some human he saw earlier that night and his plan to assassinate the Northern King early morning tomorrow, Wu Lang stumbled upon the memory of his first sensual night and realized something.

Mid-chew, Wu Lang made a surprised noise. Dong Xiu nearly choked on his own noodles. 

“What? What happened?” Dong Xiu asked in concern, worry instantly filling those green eyes as he placed down his bowl and extended a hand to rub on Wu Lang’s back. The assassin shook his head and quickly swallowed whatever was in his mouth. Then he looked over at his master and asked sheepishly, “D-do you remember that night… wh-when… we…” Embarrassed about the topic he was bringing back up after two years, he stammered over his words. But he knew that his lord had a somewhat terrible memory, so he forced himself to continue. “W-we… did those things th-that one n... night when I a-asked...?”

“...” Dong Xiu had to pause to search his memories, before he rose his brows and muttered, “Oh, I forgot about that.” 

“D-Did you…” Although Wu Lang was a ruthless assassin and spoke coldly when on the job, as soon as his mask came off, he became a stuttering mess of insecurity. It was shameful, but luckily only Dong Xiu knew about his speech impediment. “Did you… um…” 

“...No,” Dong Xiu was holding back laughter at this point. He picked up his bowl and stirred the contents with his chopsticks. “ _Ah-_ Lang, you’re two years late on that question. And you call me the forgetful one.”

Wu Lang couldn’t disagree. He was very late at catching onto things--especially implied meanings whenever demonesses tried to score one with him. His lack of libido and lack of immediate understanding made him very bad at reading certain situations aside from ones that were dangerous. The unique eyes glimmered as he laughed in agreement.

“I’m s-sorry.” 

“It’s okay. There was no way I could use you like that.” 

“And why not me, but the girls you drug?” Wu Lang braved the interrogation. Although he had no sex drive at all, he did know about his master’s horrendous actions of lust. It wasn’t something he agreed with, but it wasn’t anything he could change about his master. Dong Xiu sighed heavily, the tiny laughter on his lips ebbing away. 

“Wu Lang. When you have someone you love, you want to protect them,” Dong Xiu said.

“I... I don’t understand,” Wu Lang retorted, gazing on the marquis’ rare, somber expression. 

“I have only a few people I love. With these few, I want to keep them from all harm and I do not want to cause them pain,” The satin, beige robes rustled against each other as Dong Xiu mindlessly stirred his bowl. “All others are only tools and toys that I can play with.”

“...” 

After a moment of silence, when the ambient noise was the only thing that sounded, the man continued, “But sometimes, even if I intend to protect those I love, I end up hurting them indirectly.” Dong Xiu sighed. Wu Lang had served his master for four years now, and he had spent almost every day with him. It was easy to identify the melancholy in his eyes.

“Is this about the first l-lady?” Wu Lang knew how much his master adored his first wife. The eastern noble had been married to her far longer than Wu Lang had known him--supposedly, they had been childhood sweethearts that wedded young. The only problem with her, as far as Wu Lang comprehended, was that she was unable to conceive a child. It was a big issue for a person related to the royal family. According to rumors in the mansion, it was the first lady that allowed Dong Xiu to have the wild nightlife that he did--because she felt guilty that she couldn’t give him a child.

Dong Xiu flashed Wu Lang a rueful smile before extending a hand to pat on his the assassin’s thigh and saying, “Wu Lang. You, my daughters, and my wife are the only ones I want to protect. Because of my crimes, I know I will not live a full life.” 

“Don’t say that!” Wu Lang harshly poked at the arm reaching towards him with the ends of his chopsticks in punishment. He didn’t want to hear such things from the person who gave him the sky, the sun, and the moon.

“I’m asking you, once I die, please look after them. Ji- _er_ is so frail but very sweet. And my daughters--” 

“Stop saying sh-shit like this, Dong X-Xiu,” Wu Lang quickly interrupted. He continued talking, unable to give his friend any time to continue, “You say that you won’t live a full life, but I promise you that I’ll die to s-save you. N-No matter what it is that tr-tries to end your life.” 

Dong Xiu frowned, his brows narrowing, “Not possible.” 

“Why not?” The younger demon challenged, his scarred lips returning the frown. “It’s shameful if a retainer out...outlives their master.” 

Instead of answering the question, the man reapproached the topic, “I’m not asking you as a master or young lord, Wu Lang. I’m asking as a friend.” 

  
  


The two remained quiet after that, staring at each other in silence. One defying the thought of such a future while the other calmly accepted that his day will come.


	2. .Survival.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dong Xiu, father of three and husband to many wives. A highly respected general in the Eastern army as well as a distant relative of the Royal Family of the East; a noble demon with some control over the winds. 28 years old (current). Married young in his life to his true love and struggles with an ancient, dangerous darkness. Straight, heterosexual-heteroromantic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNINGS: Graphic depictions of gore, brief hints of rape, war**

“Ji- _er_ ,” He gently stroked her silky, black locks from her face, half-hovering over the barely dressed woman that lay beside him on their shared bed. Her chest rose and fell in steady breaths as she slept, and he couldn’t help but adore her delicate looks. 

She was exceedingly beautiful in his eyes. Small nose; soft skin; black, shoulder-length short hair; long lashes; and a pattern of freckles that stayed on her glowing cheeks. She wasn’t at all tough on the eyes, but her modest appearance was easily overlooked by lustful men who didn’t understand her humble and delightful personality. Even though her body wasn’t at the model of excellence that all other women held themselves to, Dong Xiu believed with all of his heart that this woman was a goddess. No matter how many ladies he had slept with or how attractive his other wives looked, Yuan Ji still kept him wrapped around her fingers. All he needed was for her to tell him to stop and he would instantly give up his casual nightlife and work hard to ignore the unethical practices that took the past eleven years to develop.

All he needed her to say that she wanted him back.

In a way, he wished for it.

She probably doubted his love for her. After all, women were very emotional even if they tried not to show it. He knew that his beloved spouse was aware of the number of women he had slept with since granted permission to sleep around with whomever he wished. Not once had he seen her show discontent in his actions, but just because she didn’t show it didn’t mean it wasn’t there. He also recognized how his increasing harem had started developing a rivalry between his wives and mistresses, albeit in a very subtle way. Instead of the usual catfights, the ladies would try to outperform each other and rub their successes into the wounds of the others. The most targeted victim in the harem was his infertile first spouse: Yuan Ji.

His latest wife, for instance, announced in front of the other ladies during a family dinner some months ago that she was pregnant with his child. He was upset at the timing of it since she had declared this a day before Yuan Ji’s birthday. In fact, it was arguable that Dong Xiu was more upset about the announcement than Yuan Ji, who beamed and congratulated him and the fourth wife on the baby. It would be his third child; the other two wives already giving him two lovely daughters that he couldn’t help but cherish. His oldest daughter was eight, and the second child fell three years after her. This third child, which will be born soon, will fall five years after the second one.

On contrary to what others believed, Dong Xiu didn’t marry or seek out mistresses every year or month. After all, he was reluctant to add to his household more than he was unwilling to learn the names of the women he casually sleeps with. In fact, he would often look back on the childhood dream of sharing his life with this very woman resting next to him--feeling envious of his younger self for having such an innocent desire. They married young and lived a couple of years together before his family urged the young pair to have a son. Needless to say, it broke that childhood dream of Yuan Ji being his “only one for this lifetime” when it became apparent that she couldn’t yield offspring. When he turned sixteen years old, his parents granted him a woman to have children with. Before he had a say in any of this, his wife encouraged him to marry the other; it turned out that his deceitful parents had already established arrangements ahead of time and picked on Yuan Ji until she caved into their sick ambitions.

Now he currently has four wives. Three of them were so insignificant to him that he didn’t bother to remember their names or call them by nicknames. His daughters were a different story. He loved his heiresses and he will cherish the next child when it comes--but just for a fleeting moment, he wished he can rip the motherhood away from these other women and give it to Yuan Ji while on his knees, begging her to be happy and to stop gazing at the young girls with such sorrowful eyes.

Dong Xiu sighed, twirling a lock of black hair from the woman’s head around his finger and bringing it to his lips. He stared with deep affection at her, allowing the silence of the room at the dead of night to soak in. He was caught up in his thoughts that a moment of genuine shock ran through him when he saw the woman’s dark eyes open. She smiled at him, and the noble’s heart trembled in his chest.

“Husband,” she greeted with a very modest voice, reaching up to gently pat his cheek. He couldn’t stop his childish heart from hammering wildly when she addressed him. It may have been eleven years since they had married, yet Dong Xiu still found himself caught in a spell of excitable and youthful affection whenever she called for him. He leaned over and kissed her full lips, murmuring gently with affection, “Ji- _er_.”

“Dear husband, what are you doing?” Yuan Ji whispered with a hint of humor in her voice when they parted from the tender kiss. Dong Xiu didn’t answer right away. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her lightly dressed body and buried his face into her naked neck. Her scent was floral and mellow. He felt whole. He felt complete.

“I love you,” Dong Xiu said, each word uttered in honesty. It wasn’t unusual for him to speak these weighty words to Yuan Ji; he did it as often as he could. He could still remember the time when she would blush heavily at the words--and the times when she wept from heartbreak at these words--but now she remains clear and unfazed. It was as if the three words had lost their significance with how overused they were. But he didn’t care. He only used the words “I love you” on her and it will forever stay that way.

Yuan Ji chuckled, then pulled from his embrace by sitting up. The couple leaned against each other, their fingers laced as they enjoyed each other’s company.

“When do you leave?” She asked in a whisper. Of course, he could never hide anything from her, so he told her in advance about the deployment to fight off the wild demon tribes from the southern parts of the eastern country. The pesky indigenous demon tribes had started to pillage civilian settlements in their demands for land that no longer belonged to them.

“My idiot second cousin has me leaving by tomorrow morning,” Dong Xiu answered with a heavy sigh. Yuan Ji was naturally smaller than him, so he rested his chin on the top of her head and held her close. The mellow woman hummed emptily, reclining her head against his chest.

“Do you want to say goodbye to the other wives?” She asked.

“No,” Dong Xiu answered blandly. He understood what she was hinting at and, although it was a considerate thought, he already decided in his heart that if this were to be his last day alive and at home, should the war kill him, he wanted to spend his last night with his childhood sweetheart. “They can say goodbye to me in the morning when I depart.” 

“Dong Xiu--” 

“I mean it,” He chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood. His mischievous hand slid to her side and his fingers wiggled into her flesh, causing her to squeal and squirm in attempts to escape the onslaught of tickles. Her joyful giggling was music to his ears. He tickled her for a time before he reached to her hair and gently tugged her head back, crushing her red lips with his pale ones. He kissed her deeply, sighing in content when she reciprocated the affections with a gentle moan. It felt as if he had come back home after a long journey.

They parted when she became breathless, a pretty blush on her face that brought out her adorable freckles even more. Dong Xiu couldn’t help but admire the sight, his other hand reaching up to stroke her warm cheek. He breathed against her lips.

“I love you. I love you so much.” 

“...”

  
  
  
  
  


In the morning, Dong Xiu donned his off-white robes and grasped his long sword within his hand. The long weapon was unable to be placed on his body without him having to suffer complications when he drew it from its sheath, so he developed the habit of just holding the heavy and long weapon. Luckily, he was tall enough to prevent it from dragging behind him on the ground, but it still didn’t change the fact that the weapon stood almost as tall as the demon man himself if he were to pierce its pointed end into the ground and measure it from end to hilt.

Dong Xiu stood in front of his mansion, watching as the troops prepared the carriage that will lead him to the camp. He exhaled heavily.

“Papa,” A small voice from behind him sounded and the train of his bright robes tugged lightly. Immediately, after being called, Dong Xiu turned to his tiny daughter. His countenance softened when he saw the little girl who looked up at him with bright, green eyes. It was his second daughter, dressed in a bright pink dress and her black hair in cute pigtails. The father gave his tiny daughter a questioning look, cueing her to continue what she wanted to say, “Where you goin’?”

“I’m going to fight,” Dong Xiu simplified the situation of war. He gently took the smaller hand from his clothes with a finger, marveling at how tiny and soft his daughter’s hand was. “I have to protect you, your sister, and your mommies.” Dong Xiu never said “your mother” when talking to his daughters about his wives. Although the women compete among themselves for his affections, Dong Xiu never allowed or wanted his girls to grow up with that familial split so prominent in their minds. Although the two girls had different mothers, they shouldn’t grow up with a rivalry between each other as well.

“Be a good girl and listen to your mommies while I’m gone, okay?”

“Okay.” 

“Leaving without saying goodbye, husband?” The girl’s biological mother strolled up casually to the porch. She was a stunning woman that was the epitome of beauty in this day in age, a stunning figure, large breasts, and luscious black hair with phoenix shaped eyes. However, Dong Xiu held no attachments to her; hearing the word ‘husband’ from such a foxy voice didn’t make his heart tremble with youthful excitement. Instead, it filled him with apathy.

The man stared at his third wife and hummed emptily before he handed the child off to her, his voice flat as he warned, “Don’t do anything stupid.” 

“I won’t,” the attractive woman rolled her eyes, but she took her child’s hand from her husband. Luckily, after having her daughter, the third wife was a bit more mellow and didn’t care much about taunting and causing emotional pain to Yuan Ji anymore. She hummed as she scooped her tiny, green-eyed girl into her arms and settled her against her side, “I cannot promise about the other women though.”

“Just make sure the others don’t bother her,” he sighed. Dong Xiu peered behind his wife, gazing inside of the mansion. The woman knew what he was looking for and she rolled her eyes. 

“If you keep showing her affection, she’ll continue to be a target.”

“...”

“Well then, my husband. We await your return,” she said when she saw that the arrangements were ready. She nodded her head to platoon, and Dong Xiu sighed heavily. He bid a farewell to his daughter by gently pinching the soft and plumpy cheek before turning his back and walking towards the readied carriage. Although he was on his way to war, he couldn’t help but feel as if he was leaving his heart behind. However, he sighed and swallowed down the pain and hesitation. If he wanted to continue having the royal family’s faith in him, he had to participate.

“General,” soldiers greeted him with stiff frames and serious expressions. Already putting his doubts to the side, the elegantly dressed marquis raised a hand and held his expression apathetically, his back straight and stiff.

“Save it. Wait until I make it to the camps to give me a status report on the situation,” Dong Xiu said flatly as he climbed into the carriage. The door was already held open for him, so his only trial was getting his long sword inside first before himself. It wasn’t that hard, however, since the coach already had someone inside. They took his weapon for him first, waited until he sat comfortably, then handed the long sword back.

“I still have no idea how you manage to fight with that thing,” the other demon bellowed, his plump form forcing Dong Xiu to cramp upon himself with his weapon resting slanted between his legs so that doesn’t hit the roof of the vehicle. Dong Xiu didn’t pay attention to the lieutenant colonel’s quip. Instead, as soon as the coach started to move, the marquis questioned, “What are the casualties?” 

“Half of a settlement has been burned,” the lieutenant said, the cheeky smile on his face slowly fading as he recounted what had happened. “These barbarians killed thirty women and children in the fires that they started. Sad that these innocent lives have been taken while their husbands and fathers were drafted.” 

“How _very_ unfortunate,” Dong Xiu, although being a husband and father, had no trace of sympathy in his voice as he drawled the words out. In fact, he would have rolled his eyes at the information but the lieutenant was a very close associate of the king. He couldn’t show disrespect in front of these pawns. Drumming his fingers against the sheath of his weapon to alleviate his boredom, Dong Xiu continued, “No one thought to evacuate the settlement? With it being so close to the battlefield…” 

“It’s not that. No one expected the tribes to sneak through and unleash rampaging demon beasts,” the colonel looked perplexed as he explained, “It was strange. It didn’t look like there were any large demon beasts with them. However, during ravaging of the settlement, it was said that the flames were brought forth by beasts with the body of fire.” 

“But, from your knowledge, there were no beasts on the battlefield?” Dong Xiu found this issue peculiar. “You’re saying that these flaming monsters have appeared spontaneously?”

“That is the theory,” the plump man sighed. “Either that or they somehow smuggled such things in with them.” 

But even that didn’t sound right.

Dong Xiu closed his eyes in thought. For some reason, he recalled the studies the Western kingdom had been conducting regarding demonic energy and if it suddenly went out of control, but he hasn’t been up-to-date with those findings mostly because the experiments have been abruptly cut-off for unknown reasons. He said nothing regarding that and the topic on hand currently. Instead, when Dong Xiu opened his eyes again, he asked a different question, “How many men do we have?” 

“Five thousand, if you want to say that we’re lucky. The latest draft dragged in hooligan boys from the streets. All of them _above_ the age of fifteen just as you requested,” the topic seemed to trigger a memory for the fat man and he grinned at the marquis, tapping on the man’s thigh. “Speaking of, some of our drafters spotted some pretty ladies. They have them prepared for you in your tent.”

Dong Xiu wasn’t at all surprised or thrilled at the ‘considerate’ thought of being provided comfort women. After all, it was no secret that he lavished heavily in lust despite being a married man with a true love. And, regrettably, he has gone beyond the point of saving himself some grace. The snickering man in front of him was proof of how many people doubted his sincerity about his affection for Yuan Ji. A part of him was enraged, yet he couldn’t say anything. 

Emotionally disappointed with this blow, Dong Xiu feigned an excited grin and spoke with false enthusiasm, betraying his heart, “Oh? I cannot wait to see them!”

“I’m sure you’ll love them. All of them virgins.” 

“How lovely.”

  
  
  
  


By the time it was sunset, Dong Xiu finally reached the eastern army’s camp. He stepped out of the couch with a sore ass in the end, and he cannot count how many times he almost fell asleep during the colonel’s corrupted rambles. It wasn’t as if he could call the other out on his crimes, however, when he also played a part in the scheme, dirty tricks, and low-life methods.

As the heavier demon stepped out, he huffed and flicked his many-ringed fingers at the soldiers of green and black, demanding for some water. Then he turned his attention back to Dong Xiu, grinning. “If you wish to inspect the place, be my guest. The new recruits must be training.”

“Training more than twelve hours a day?” Dong Xiu raised his brow at the other as the corners of his lips tugged downwards. “That doesn’t seem ethical.” 

“No, but you know,” The fat, shorter demon patted his stomach as he spoke, “These are trying times. If the new men cannot adapt quickly to the harsh physical demands, then they won’t make it out alive.” Dong Xiu made a sound of acknowledgment but didn’t say anything further on the topic. After all, it wasn’t exactly the wrong way to think about it, no matter how immortal it is.

Not long after their conversation ended, they were approached by one of the young recruits who came with refreshments. Immediately, the red hair caught Dong Xiu’s attention and he silently stared at the short boy that stretched out the tray in his hand to the lieutenant. The fat man didn’t seem to notice Dong Xiu’s interest; he snatched the cup from the tray and, oddly enough, inspected his drink. Then he grumbled, “it’s always like this with this kid” before he outstretched his hand over the red-haired child and tilted the cup over his head. Dirty water poured, drenching the crimson locks until the cup was empty. The action shocked Dong Xiu, but he forced himself to stay schooled and allow the scene to play out.

Instead of having a reaction, the darkly dressed soldier kept his head bowed. The child didn’t even raise hell for being disrespected and humiliated or looked up when other officers that stood by to watch the scene snickered in mockery. He stood still--reminding Dong Xiu of a statue.

“When I say I wanted water, I mean clean water,” the colonel hissed, the look of disgusting mockery in his eyes. The youngster still did not glance up towards the one who disrespected him. Instead, he waited until every drop of the water had dripped onto his head before he retracted his arms and nodded while holding the tray close to his chest. Dong Xiu was intrigued, and he couldn’t stop himself from calling out when the kid turned to walk away, “Wait.” He was slightly surprised when the red-haired child did stop in his tracks, but Dong Xiu simply motioned to a soldier at the sidelines. “Fetch a towel.”

“Dong Xiu!” The fat demon next to the man exclaimed softly, laughter heavy in his voice. He waved his hand at the drenched boy as if presenting something rather unimportant. “This is one of the street hooligans...” 

“That may be so,” Dong Xiu was still calm as ever. In fact, he couldn’t understand what made him want to show generosity to a person he didn’t even know. He took the towel that was handed to him from the soldier he requested it from and he stepped towards the short, red-haired youth. The boy was just below his chest--obviously, a late bloomer when it came to growth. Dong Xiu shifted his long sword to be gripped within the crease of his arm and he generously ruffled the boy’s locks with the towel, drying him up a bit. “However, the goal we are trying to achieve is to defeat the savages, not cause a war within the troops. _‘Strengthen thy bonds to become brothers-in-arms’_.”

“The famous _Book of Courage_ ,” the weighty man behind him inhaled as he heard the quote. The jeers that had once rung throughout the grounds at the younger’s misfortune were still and all that was left was an eerie silence as men either watched the wise marquis show compassion or directed their sights elsewhere. When the unique locks were dried enough, Dong Xiu squatted down to pat at the boy’s wet face. With knees bent, the tall man had dipped a little bit lower than the small boy, and when looking up at the face, Dong Xiu had a good perfect view on the helpless prey to the army’s bullying. 

“Hm?” the noble couldn’t stop himself from pausing in a slight curiosity, his green orbs blinking as he saw the black mask that covered the child’s face almost completely. It was an oddity, but no doubt had the mask also been soaked by the water. “Oh, dear. Your mask got wet. Do you want to take it off?” 

“...” The boy looked at him directly in the eyes with an intimidating glare. That’s when Dong Xiu noticed the boy’s beautiful eyes--His right eye the color of henna, and his left eye the color of a light-green sea--and a soft _“ooohh!”_ sound of amazement that escaped his lips before he could realize that he was gawking. The boy was a rare breed among demons; it was uncommon to have not only flaming, red hair but also heterochromia. In other words, this boy was a gem amidst the unusual. Moving past his initial shock at the rarity, Dong Xiu ignored the youth’s scary scowl and asked again, “Do you want to take it off?”

“...”

“You have very beautiful eyes,” Dong Xiu decided to go a different route with trying to get the child to talk. Unfortunately, as he spoke these words, the wealthy man behind him chuckled and mocked, “Dong Xiu! Are you into little boys now?” 

“Shan Liu,” the noble didn’t hide his displeasure this time, tearing his eyes away from the boy to glare over his shoulder. Although the marquis was a delightful actor with faking his enjoyment in many things, he did only go a certain distance when it came to playful insults. He flashed an unfriendly smirk at the other and said, “If _I’m_ into little boys, what does it make _you?_ ”

He will not pity someone more sickening than he was.

The question was successful in getting the massive man to shut up, albeit with a reddened face and an indignant expression. When he calmed that, Dong Xiu returned his attention to the boy, who hadn’t changed the lifeless yet intimidating look in his eyes. The marquis gave a rueful smile and reached up to pat the child’s wet face and mask. He could tell the short boy did not want it removed, so he didn’t bother with asking a third time. As he patted the youngster’s face, he said in his comforting ‘daddy-voice’, “Don’t worry. Okay?” He knew that the skin beneath the mask had been wet with the murky water as well, so he handed the damp towel to the child. His lime-green orbs didn’t move from those uniquely colored eyes--almost as if he knew he had set his eyes on something special. “Take this and head back to your tent. I’m giving you special leave for the rest of the day.” 

“...” The child didn’t speak at all, but he had been wary (and surprisingly gentle) with accepting the item from Dong Xiu before turning on his heel and leaving without a sound. Dong Xiu remained in his squatted position for a little bit before he raised up, using the sheath of his long sword as an aid as he pushed himself up. The colonel waited patiently, but when the marquis turned and walked towards him, the fat man nodded and waved his hand elsewhere, signaling to his servants to leave them. “Now, Dong Xiu, to your tent. It’s the big one on the left side of the fort.”

“Hm,” the marquis nodded, following the short, round man to his prepared pavilion that he will be calling “home” for the next few months. It was quite a way’s stroll, but as they neared it was obvious that the temporary establishment was for the marquis--it the only piece of land with soldiers a posted a good length away from the entrance, and pretty isolated from the rest of the compound. Dong Xiu had always loved his isolation, the only person allowed to enter his private space being his precious Yuan Ji. The corrupt, fat person beside him gave a giggle and nudged his side, saying with such a sick excitement that it made Dong Xiu’s insides recoil, “The selected woman has already been arranged for you inside. She will provide you warmth tonight. It’s said to get cold.” 

“I am aware,” Dong Xiu had to close his eyes to evade looking at such a revolting expression.

Yet, he couldn’t say anything against this. After all, he was just as horrible as they were.

  
  


They bid their goodbyes and Dong Xiu entered his “home” to retire for the night. As soon as he fastened the leather latch to secure the entrance, he heard a shuffle on the bedsheets and the sound of muted sobs from behind the curtain some feet away. Dong Xiu inhaled steadily.

He thought back to the woman he held in his arms last night; how gorgeous her smile, how lovely her eyes, and how soft her touches and kisses. He thought back to the way his heart fluttered at her laughter and her joy; he thought back to all of the swelling emotions he had for the beautiful woman that he could not describe in any other way aside from the three words, “I love you”.

The marquis turned into the room and took a step. Then another step. And another. With every step towards the bed, he envisioned each fragment the memory of the woman he loved drifting further and further away from him as if they were dandelion fluffs that blew away with the breeze. With each step, the memories of every “I love you”, every kiss, and every smile dissolved into the darkness, leaving him behind to watch each one go--leaving him feeling empty and numb. He felt far from home and his heart yearned to return to its place of comfort.

When his feet were only a step away from the bed, his vacant, green eyes stared at the gagged young woman who laid stripped, whipped, and with her arms tied up to the bed frame. She wasn’t at all unattractive--skinny but with nice assets. She had tears in her eyes and welts from the ten disciplinary lashings on each of her limbs. She was already naked. He would have been angry that the given promise of a virgin had been violated, but with how she clamped her legs together and tried to shield her most private of places, it swiftly consoled his mind that she was still pure.

With such a delicious treat bestowed onto him, how can he not take a bite?

A voracious smile spread onto his handsome, pale lips as his formerly emotionless eyes grew brighter in twisted, dark satisfaction. 

“What a welcoming gift,” Dong Xiu heard himself say; his mind had yet to catch up with the reality of the situation as his body moved on its own. He felt his hands land on the lady’s thighs and push them apart--forcing her to reveal herself to him. In his heart, he had covered his ears to her panicked shriek and closed his eyes to her new stream of tears. “How could I say _‘no'_ to such a delight?” 

At that moment, the laughing darkness that had already devoured his body and his mind asked his numbed and empty heart: 

_Who is this “Yuan Ji” you mourn for?_

  
  
  


The next morning he woke up naked from his night of one-sided pleasure. The woman that he ravished was still motionless behind him--blood soaked long ago into the bedsheets from her forcefully broken virginity. He was laying on his side, awoken from the sounds of marches from the outside. He groaned, shifting to a sitting position. During the difficulty last night, his hair band had come off and now his long, black hair loosely stretched around his waist. After gobbling up his meal with the hunger of a wolf last night, Dong Xiu couldn’t help but feel the disgust and shame of his putrid achievements. He should be used to this, seeing how he engaged in these acts since he was seventeen, yet here he was: twenty-four-years-old and still unable to find any comfort in the thought “the more you do it, the easier it gets”.

The guards already knew what was going to happen, so they had pre-prepared a bucket of water for him to sponge wash himself up with, although at this point the water had gone cold since it was prepared before he entered last night. It was not that important anyway and he washed off the blood from his body before completely dressing himself up with his expensive garments. The silk robes were off-white with green embroidery, showing off his status as a high commander in this army. Dong Xiu’s tent had a silver mirror already installed so he was able to check himself over to make sure nothing was out of place. When he confirmed that everything was set and perfect, he walked out. Not once did he stop to check on the dirtied and raped woman who supported a new set of bruises--some of which were irreversible and will traumatize her for the rest of her life. It was out of sight, out of mind.

As he passed a guard on his way to the main portions of the grounds, he uttered coldly, “Kill her and leave the body out in the wilderness for the beasts to gorge on.”

“Yes, sir.”

  
  
  
  
  


“Shan Liu,” Dong Xiu had his eyes glued on the wooden board, an arrangement color of black and white dots on it as the lieutenant and general played _weiqi_ for the fun of it. It’s been several weeks since they have been here with the training grounds. The number of comfort women that were lined up for the marquis’ hungry desires had ebbed to only two thanks to Dong Xiu’s habit of making sure the women were killed after his darkness had its fun with them. Although the decreasing numbers weren’t something that troubled the man in question, the lieutenant colonel seemed to think that Dong Xiu needed an endless supply of women and slowly kept adding to the dwindling numbers. He had no concern about where the fat man was getting these women, but more and more the ladies appeared to suspiciously resemble demons from the indigenous tribes they were battling against. Eventually, it got to the point that Dong Xiu had mindlessly, almost instinctively, slaughtered the latest abducted woman instead of satisfying the darkness in his body.

He placed down a white stone on an intersection and said, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m sick of murdering women. Please stop kidnapping these girls.”

“Dong Xiu,” Shan Liu laughed, not at all hiding his shame. The new recruits were going through a practice drill beside them. “My men have gone through so many lengths to find the most satisfying of women for you. Who knows, you might even finally fall in love with one of them these days and marry them into your family. Then you’ll settle down properly, ha!”

Dong Xiu paused with his tight smile on his lips. Something sinister rose at the other’s words, and he could feel that once-sleeping darkness awakening in the back of his mind along with the feelings of anger--as if a beast was caged inside of him and it had angrily arisen from a deep and comfortable sleep. The handsome man didn’t need to say anything; his deathlike stillness was enough to warn the lieutenant that he had overstepped his boundaries. The fat man set his black stone on the board and giggled apologetically, “I forgot about…” 

“The less you speak mindlessly, the longer you will live,” Dong Xiu was never a man to throw out reckless threats, but he spoke before he could catch himself. He didn’t know if he felt insulted for the thought that people viewed him so lowly or if he was trying to defend his most beloved woman--a woman which almost everyone in the demon realm thought of as insignificant. Thinking of it that way, the man’s impression of the impudent other had taken a profound dip. The marquis threw out his piece onto the board and continued with an irritated voice, “Free the rest of the apprehended women. I want no more offerings from you.” 

“Ah… Alright,” the fat man leaned back in his chair with a bit of a dejected sigh before whistling. Two aides came and Shan Liu gave them the order to release the captured women. When the assistants left, Dong Xiu had made his move before sitting back and sighing, his green eyes drifting to the military troops. His eyes landed on a bean sprout of a boy, the same one with red hair and the black mask on his face. He was much shorter than most of the other soldiers, so it was not at all hard to spot him from nearly a mile away--the red hair not at all helping since it made him stick out like a sore thumb. The boy was following the drills nearly perfectly--no doubt a very quick learner among his peers.

However, in the past few weeks, the child had shown an immense dislike for Dong Xiu in particular. Although the little ginger was still silent and aloof compared to all of the other recruits, there was a certain amount of spite that was directed at the marquis. From crossing each other when walking by to whenever the young boy had to attend either of the high commanders, those unique eyes scowled at the elegant and handsome adult. Dong Xiu couldn’t even start up a conversation with the boy since he would only be met with silence and glares. After many days of putting up with the brat’s attitude, Dong Xiu was starting to dislike the boy as well. 

Shan Liu caught the other’s glance and followed it, then he chuckled. “Treat them with kindness, and they return it with ungratefulness. You see why we don’t treat these street mongrels the same as those born from our noble blood?” 

“You,” Dong Xiu’s eyes rolled to the sky. Every day seemed to be testing his patience and the very thinly layered irritation could be heard in the noble’s voice, “Are the last person who should be talking at the moment.” 

Promptly, the older man smiled but allowed his mouth to be quiet, then he placed his black piece on the board. In his mindlessness, he placed a black piece next to one of his own pieces, leaving one empty space on the board. The black stones had already been surrounded by Dong Xiu’s white stones, leaving only that one liberty as the safety net preventing Dong Xiu from capturing all of these stones. The noble chuckled, picking his white stone from the bowl next to him.

“ _‘the one who ventures into the malicious unknown will emerge a hero’_ ,” the green-eyed demon muttered to himself as he placed that lone, white stone between the two black stones. Indeed, it seemed like a suicide attempt, seeing that lonely, smooth stone surrounded by the enemy--yet knowing the rules of the game very well, with the white pieces surrounding the blacks on the outer portions and cutting off the liberties that would allow the lieutenant to breathe or move in any future plans to save his troops, the battle for that section of land had concluded in the marquis’ favor. With that battle won, Dong Xiu picked up another white pebble and grinned up at the careless lieutenant colonel, who was red in the face and staring at the latest play in disbelief. With a bit of mockery, Dong Xiu chimed, “I win.”

It was finally the day where their platoon would face the battle. Dong Xiu received a note from his cousin that had asked his platoon to go to the warzone. His troops were to take the path from Respite Field downwards to the enemy territory. 

“Why Respite Field?” Shan Liu grumbled as he looked at the war map before him, the red and blue markers showing their strategy. “It’s so deathly quiet there and the silver grass is too tall. You won’t know what’s lurking there.” 

“It’s the only safe travel for an ambush,” Dong Xiu commented as his green eyes stared at the red markers. In order for them to cut off the supply line of the enemy, they had to take this route and surround this section of the enemy while overtaking the camps. It wasn’t only a way to weaken the enemy, but to also get hold of previsions that will come in handy in the future. They weren’t running entirely low on supplies, but raiding the enemy wasn’t entirely a bad idea. “From the fields to the south-east then upwards will put us near the mountains. If our intel is correct, then there is a camp based at the bottom of this mountain. It’s not a bad idea to take advantage of the situation.”

“But,” the lieutenant shifted in his chair uneasily, his demonic eyes looking back and forth from their current position on the map to the place they are heading to. “This… is a terrible strategic move…”

“It is,” Dong Xiu couldn’t help but sigh. It was eerily close to the enemy lines, and one simple miscalculation could result in their entire fleet being wiped out. Dong Xiu pulled himself away from leaning over the table in a careful study of the map and slapped his folded paper fan into the palm of his empty left hand. “However, I don’t make the rules. When the king is on the battlefield, we can only obey.”

“He’s going to get us killed,” the lieutenant wheezed, hiding his ashamed expression behind his plump hand. Dong Xiu shared his worry, but he didn’t let it cloud his judgment. Instead, the demon took a step back and observed the map some more. 

“Although, going into enemy territory isn’t a bad thing. We can feed the new recruits to the enemies and watch them choke on the bones,” Dong Xiu joked after a moment. The lieutenant squawked, “Stop saying shit like that!” The general had a good laugh at his subordinate's dismay.

  
  


It was the day of mobilization. Dong Xiu had tweaked a little bit of the plan from what his foolish cousin ordered and both of the commanders agreed to take this route. Being the high commander of this troop, Dong Xiu lead the way while atop his steed, the rest of his men falling behind him. It was the third day of their ride south towards Respite Field, but their plan was not to cut across it then turn southeast then back north. Rather, it was to head straight east right before reaching the fields. It was much faster this way and less threatening to their fresh troops. After all, as a skilled soldier for many years now, Dong Xiu didn't feel right having his new recruits so close to the enemy lines. As they marched on, the day slowly turned to the evening. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon when they walked towards the grey mountains in the east, into the forests.

For the most part, their plan went accordingly. They managed to get a high enough vantage point, and with Dong Xiu’s cunningness, they trapped the entire enemy camp by surrounding them. However, it was amidst the war that things took a sudden sharp turn.

Suddenly, from the ground, a flaming beast rose with a terrible roar. It shook the earth and caused some men to lose balance. Dong Xiu happened to be next to the beast and its sudden emergence had sent him flying into the air a couple of feet. With a grunt, the general landed hard on his back and the debris that was there had painfully dug into his spine. The demon went breathless for a moment, unable to grip reality for a moment as his bones cracked under the force. The ear-shattering sound of a scream continued as the area lit up with hot, hungry hues of orange and yellow. The marquis didn’t have time to dwell on the pain. He could hear the horrified screams of his people as a wild flame blew past. When Dong Xiu pushed himself up, his green eyes caught sight of the terrible, aflame beast. 

It didn’t seem like it was naturally covered in fire, the brown skin below the angry flames boiled, bubbled, and melted, leaving behind puddles of flesh dripping as it moved with spazzing movements. It looked like a large bear from the human realm, except it had a long tail that swayed everywhere in a crazed manner. Knowing war and torment for so long, Dong Xiu recognized pain when he saw it in a creature. 

The large monster wasn’t a beast of flame, but rather an animal set aflame.

How much more brutal can these savages get?

Dong Xiu jumped to his feet as fast as he could, ignoring the stinging ache that traveled along his ribs. He shook his head to right his mind.

“General!” a voice spoke, one of the lackeys rushed to him with panic clear in his face. Of course, no one expected the brutes to have a crazed demon beast ready at this place, so everyone was in a state of panic. Dong Xiu knew that this was not worth the risk--either way, the supply base was destroyed and completely unsalvageable for both parties.

“Spread the word; retreat! This place is no good,” the demon noble let his voice out powerfully to be heard over the din. With his long hilt gripped with both of his hands, Dong Xiu took a step forward and glared at the beast as if prepared to fight. Although it seemed as if it was impossible, he was indeed the only one with a long-ranged melee weapon--nearly six feet can be sliced with the very blade in his hands. 

If it allowed his men to get out with their lives, he was willing to take the risk against the beast.

As the private ran off to tell the others in their army to flee, Dong Xiu rushed forward with his long blade pointed at the beast’s thick limb. His sword was impervious to all things that would cause it to break; the steel, sharp weapon cut through the raging flames and pierced the flesh. The creature immediately sounded out in pain before turning its attention on the daring, puny demon that dared to stab it. Dong Xiu could only glance at the monster’s face for a second before he forced his long blade out, shifted his body, and ran back a few paces--barely missing the blazing tail at it swooped down at him. Dong Xiu could feel the passing heat on his neck, and the threat sent shivers running along his spine. After running a good measure, the marquis turned on his heel, readjusted his grip on the hilt of his sword, and stabbed upwards into the giant paw that descended upon him. Dark, thick blood dripped onto the man.

The creature was quick to withdraw its limb, leaving the long blade and the demon underneath drenched with its blood. The canine let out a roar, frenzied eyes concentrated on Dong Xiu as the snarl on its nose grew deeper. Because of the heat coming from the aflame creature’s body, Dong Xiu was relatively quick to notice that his hands had become clammy. Thankfully, his sword’s hilt was made with cloth for better gripping. Dragging the heavy and long weapon behind him with both hands still gripping the handle, Dong Xiu ran further into the camp, against the large exodus of demons that rushed out to safety. Behind him followed the large demon beast. Even though Dong Xiu is relatively faster than most demons on his feet, his speed was nothing compared to a four-legged, giant creature. Within seconds, the distance between the man and the monster was covered and ended with Dong Xiu flying into the air from a swipe. 

“Ugh!” Dong Xiu barreled into a crate, the wood stabbing into his flesh in such a painful way that his sight had gone momentarily gone dark. However, he quickly shook off the dizzy spell. When he lifted his eyes, he saw the blazing monstrosity jump forward. 

Responding quickly to the threat, the demon swung his hand in front of him while letting out a fierce shout. From his claws cutting the air, a fearsome gust of wind blew directly towards the monster. The creature was suspended in the air for a time as the winds fought against its trajectory. When those monstrous paws fell down to the ground, the powerful gusts stopped, and Dong Xiu panted heavily against the crates, undoubtedly tired.

He wasn’t as proficient as his royal cousins over the diabolical gales, so he couldn’t do anything more than powerful blasts of winds. Yes, he does use the power of the breezes to hasten his speed and increase his jumps, but those are only with a fraction of his power. Using one-hundred percent of his demonic energy to repel the large beast from pouncing on him wore him out. If his blood had been more strongly connected to the royal family, he wouldn’t be so tired with just a gale. In reality, his power over the winds is strong enough to blow people off of the grounds and several hundred meters into the air, but with this beast, it seemed to only have saved him by a couple hundred feet.

“Fuck,” Dong Xiu cursed while rolling his head back to stare at the darkening sky. Although he was surrounded by flames and screams, he couldn’t help the weight of his eyelids. Even if he knew that the beast roared and charged at him again, his fatigue from days of travel and the full use of his power catching up to him.

He was tired. 

Something took hold of Dong Xiu’s arm and pulled him, dragging him across the sharp edges of the wooden crates quickly. The exhausted man couldn’t do anything against the new force, but he found himself dragged onto the floor just as the flames consumed where he once stood. 

“...” Dong Xiu tiredly rolled his eyes upwards, but his vision was blurred as he felt himself tipping into the comfortable darkness of sleep.

“ _Tch!_ ” a voice spat. Dark gloves were wrapped around the man’s wrist and tugging him across the dirt and blood. However, Dong Xiu couldn’t bring himself to do anything more because his fatigue caught hold of him and he fell into a deep sleep.

  
  
  
  
  


_“Dong Xiu!” Yuan Ji called his name. He looked down from the tree he was sitting in at the little girl who held out a white, transparent plant at him. She was a year younger than he was, so her childlike expression shone brightly. So bright, even as a twelve-year-old kid, he couldn’t stop himself from cooing in his heart over how lovely the maiden was._

_“What is it, Ji-er?” he asked, closing the book in his hands before jumping down to greet her properly. Although it was a pretty far jump down, he softened his fall by willing a gentle gale at his feet. When he landed, he didn’t disrupt the seeding dandelions around them. When he was on the ground, the bright-eyed girl giggled and handed him the white, puffy dandelion. “Mama and Papa said that if you blow on these and make a wish, it’ll come true!”_

_“Really?” This was the first time he’s ever heard of such a silly thing. But then again, she came from a modest background, while he was raised in nobility. It wasn’t to say she was poor, but she wasn’t rich either. Her family’s little silly sayings were different and charming to him. He took the offering from her hands with such softness and giggled, “What a silly little thing!”_

_“Yeah!” She replied with a happy cheer--and he felt his heart flutter at her bright smile. The freckles and light flush on her face looked more adorable than anything in the world. She turned, bending her knees to pick up a flower fluff of her own. As she straightened her legs to her short height again, she winked at the young noble and exclaimed with such innocence, “Let’s make a wish together and see if it comes true!”_

_“Hm, okay!” Dong Xiu was playful with this idea. With a wide grin and a somewhat racing heart, he exclaimed loudly in a joke, “I wish that one day we will get married! Yuan Ji, you’ll have my heart, my devotion, and you’ll be my one and only for this lifetime!” and he blew hard on the white fluff, causing it all to disperse into the air and fly on the winds._

_The two were no strangers to the concept of marriage. The girl’s eyes widened at his words and her face quickly went pink. It was a while after the dandelion seeds had already floated in the air did she react by hiding her face with her hands and let out an embarrassed shriek much to his amusement, “Noooo!!”_

_He giggled, his glimmering green eyes looking like precious gems as he discarded the useless stem in his hands. Although he meant it in a joking manner, he couldn’t help but actually wish for such a life. Marriage with the girl in front of him? For the rest of his life? That doesn’t sound too bad…_

  
  
  
  


Dong Xiu woke stiffly, his head still spinning as he forced his eyes open. From the start, he knew that there was a source of heat somewhere nearby, but it wasn’t raging or out of control as the flames in the battle before. This clam was calm, and the snaps of wood echoed gently in the silent surrounding. He groaned before pushing himself up off the stone floor. He raised a hand to press against his hurting head, but that movement caught the attention of the other soul that shared the cave with him. 

“Hn,” the hum was low, and Dong Xiu quickly became alerted that he wasn’t the only one in the area. Ignoring his pain, the demon sat up and scanned the area. He found the red-haired boy that had a bit of a feud with him these past few months sitting on the floor poking the fire with a stick. The unique colored eyes glanced up at the stunned marquis and the childish yet low voice said, “Only a few hours.”

“...Huh,” Dong Xiu made an unamused sound. His green eyes glanced towards the entrance of the cave, finding it to be dark outside, the stars uncharacteristically brighter than other nights. He also saw a faint hue of orange some distance away that was followed by a thick trail of black smoke. From what was said and the situational context clues, he assumed the child meant “It’s only been a few hours since we’ve escaped”. 

“What’s the situation?” Dong Xiu asked the boy. Although they had a bit of animosity towards each other currently, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t work together. 

The boy blinked but replied flatly, “Most of the troops withdrew. Lieutenant Shan took the surviving members up north to join the king.”

“And us?” He saw no other member here, so he assumed that he and the child were alone. The red-haired boy nodded and continued, “We were cut off and forced to retreat into the forests. We’re behind enemy lines.”

The adult grumbled under his breath as he straightened his positions, sitting with his legs crossed and back erect. He stared through the orange fire at the masked, tiny other, who had been seated with his knees pulled up to his chest and that intense stare was returned back to him. Dong Xiu forced himself to tone-down his level of dislike for this cheeky brat and said, “Behind enemy lines...How did this happen?” 

“Fire beast chased after me when I hauled you onto a cart,” the kid spoke with indifference still in his voice. He rather seemed unamused by the events that took place just several hours ago. “Lieutenant Shan gathered a group to distract the beast, but a line of fire kept us separated, so I took shelter in the woods.”

“You’re a brave little guy,” Dong Xiu couldn’t help but admire the newbie soldier, his tone slightly mocking as a grin played on his lips. Although the boy was his benefactor for this time around, he couldn’t help but let the bit of bitterness seep out in his voice. It wasn’t very often he saw a new recruit with the balls to be independent and act on their own--disregarding consequences. Then he asked, “What’s your name, kid?”

“Wu Lang. Wu as in _tian yuan jiang wu_ , Lang as in _er you wu he you zhi xiang, yi chu kuang lang zhi ye._ ” 

“ _Wu Lang_ ,” Dong Xiu tested the name on his lips, his slim eyes narrowing slightly at the child. He spoke sarcastically and touched his finger to his lips, “What a very promising name.” 

“...”

“As you know, I’m Dong Xiu. And I am very hungry.”

“...”

For the first time ever, Dong Xiu saw the child roll his eyes towards the heavens. For some reason, causing the child any sort of hardship gave the adult such satisfaction; the smile that bloomed on his face was genuine in its spite. The demon inspected the boy. There wasn’t anything about the kid at all that outstanding aside from his flaming red hair and his heterochromia. Dark, nearly skin-tight clothing; a black mask; darkly colored, leather gloves that reached up to his elbows and a set of common, short daggers hoisted at the back of his belt. It wasn’t at all anything that gave a sign of a person in a high-class unit. In fact, the more he looked at him, the more the child resembled an assassin. The dirty robed noble raised his brow and asked, “Were you in the slayer unit?”

“Am,” the kid replied simply, with no hint that implied that he was the talkative type. Which was sort of fine with Dong Xiu. Although the marquis was very good with people, he also loved his alone time too. But he was feeling kind of bored.

“So, how old are you, Wu Lang?”

“Turning fifteen this winter.”

Dong Xiu’s brows narrowed and he tilted his head in mild confusion. That didn’t sound right, the draft was only supposed to pick men from ages sixteen and older. “What? You’re too young for this war. Who picked you?”

At the question, the boy shrugged indifferently. Dong Xiu can get his point tho: what’s done is done, and it is why they are currently where they’re at now. If it weren’t for the boy, Dong Xiu would have probably died from the enraged, aflame beast. So he let the topic go with a heavy sigh.

“When should we depart?” Wu Lang asked his first question ever, his eyes trained on the marquis. Dong Xiu placed his hands on his knees and leaned back, looking out the cave once again to examine the night. It was far too dark out right now. There were nocturnal creatures out and about and most of them were dangerous. Not to mention, the tribes they are warring against most likely are scouting for them. Luckily, Wu Lang had picked a pretty hidden cave: the entrance nearly concealed by the tree branches of a nearby, blossoming tree. They had some altitude, only making Dong Xiu assume that they had taken shelter against a cliff or mountain.

“In the morning,” The green-eyed man sighed tiredly. He looked back to the flame in front of him and jerked his chin towards it. “Dim the fire. The less we make ourselves noticeable, the better chances of survival we have.” 

“But it’s chilly,” the boy stated although his voice held no trace of a pout. Dong Xiu couldn’t let the opportunity to be a little shit get passed up, so he promptly said with a tease as he relaxed and laid down on the ground to sleep, “Ah! If that’s the case, you can always cuddle up with me. Don’t worry, papa is very warm.”

For the second time, Wu Lang rolled his eyes--this time with a bit more strength--before he kicked whatever dirt was around onto the fire to kill it, muttering under his breath with hatred heavy in his voice, “Disgusting.”

The adult didn’t try to contain his giggle at the other’s anger as he said, “But I’m serious! My daughters love my snuggles!”

  
  
  
  


Dong Xiu was never really a light sleeper, but to say that he was a deep sleeper was a lie. He was usually somewhere in between. He could hear the shuffle of the other’s movements and he felt a small hand land on his shoulder to wake him up. However, in his drowsy state, he thought it had been his youngest daughter and he couldn’t help but grumble in light annoyance. She was always trying to wake him up too early so that she could bake cookies.

A voice called out, but Dong Xiu was so comfortable in his sleep that he couldn’t help his body’s instinctual reaction to swat away the hand and mutter, “Mmn… go wake up one of your moms. They’ll help you with the darn cookies…” and he curled onto himself to preserve any sort of heat he had left from such a chilly night. In his own ears, Dong Xiu heard the words he was saying, but to Wu Lang, it was nothing more than a grumbled mess of sounds that threw off the young assassin-in-training. The boy’s hazel and turquoise eyes blinked as a moment of dumbfounded silence followed.

“...General Dong!”

“ _Hhhhgggh_ …”

“Dong Xiu, you lazy and stupid blockhead! _Get up!!_ ” Wu Lang became frustrated. He sprang to his feet and decided that he couldn’t be cultured anymore. The short kid kicked at the man that curled snugly on the floor before putting the heel piece of his boot on the general’s side, and he twisted and pressed his foot down. Following the abusive actions, Dong Xiu let out a howl of surprise, his once heavy eyelids flying open as he yelled for a short moment. 

_Holy shit! Why is this kid so mean!!_

“What do you want!?” Dong Xiu, for the life of him, never-ever appreciated getting woken up by other people. Even his beloved Yuan Ji commented, with a bit of laughter, that waking him up from a comfortable sleep was probably more dangerous than going head-to-head against high commanders (thankfully she viewed the mission of waking him up more of a game than a threat). The marquis snapped back at the youngster with a hard glare, almost threatening him to do something that pissed him off even more. Yet the kid played it smart. As soon as he saw that Dong Xiu had awakened, he nodded and hurriedly walked a few paces back. When he was sure that he had gotten the man’s attention, the boy deadpanned seriously, “We’re heading out.”

It took a whole minute and a half for Dong Xiu to realize that the kid was giving him orders and by then the red-haired brat was already wandering off out of the cave. The adult didn’t know if he could feel insulted or just go along with the street urchin. But his desire to return home overtook his pride and he huffed as he pushed himself to his feet, his body slightly sore from how hard the ground was. The adult demon didn’t waste time, however, and he picked up his weapon from the ground and followed the demonling out and into the bright day. 

Outside had been pretty ordinary. Dong Xiu wasn’t entirely wrong with the elevated part, but he didn’t actually expect the child to find an actual den made from large rocks that were piled among each other. It even formed a stairway of sorts to the mouth of the seemingly man-made cave and beside this stairway was a miniature tree with small, white blossoms. The branches of this tree blocked most of the entrance and in the middle of the night, it was most likely unlikely for anyone to notice a cave this far into the wilderness. Which, Dong Xiu could tell that they were deep into the forests in the southern parts of the continent. This was undoubtedly the beginnings of the heart of the savage tribes that they are fighting against--near their homes in the Mulberry Islands further south; a make-shift bridge connecting the small chain of islands together with the mainland. 

There was a small trickle of a river nearby and Wu Lang had squatted near it with a very small flask open to collect water. The flask wasn’t even enough to support both of their thirsts throughout the day. But he didn’t say anything about that. He was terribly hungry.

Rubbing his flat stomach, Dong Xiu yawned loudly then said, “How about we camp here for breakfast then head out. I’m starving.” 

“...” Wu Lang paused as if weighing the option. Then he nodded. “I will get the fire ready before I go hunting.” 

“What?” Dong Xiu might be a very underhanded man, but he was no means unfair. The adult shook his head. “I’ll get the fire started. You can go hunt down some rabbits or something for us to eat.”

“B-but--” 

“No buts except if it’s yours hauling ass to find food,” Dong Xiu turned his heel to pick up various dry materials to use as fuel for the fire. Meanwhile, he wasn’t disappointed with the kid; the red-haired boy was silent for a few moments, then Dong Xiu heard the faint sound of a swift breeze. When he glanced over his shoulder to where he left the kid, he wasn’t at all to find the spot empty. Being of the slayer corp, silent swiftness was an essential skill. Although it may seem like the person vanished from thin air, it’s actually just them jumping up in the blink of an eye and leaping to another part of the space. At this point, if the kid perfected the skill, it wasn’t all that far-fetched to assume that the kid was already gone.

Dong Xiu continued his task of gathering firewood, and he piled them some distance from the stream. Flint was something that he had on him all of the time while on the battlefield, so he pulled out a small, brown satchel and grabbed a black rock from it. It was relatively swift to alight a fire, and the warmth from the snapping flames provided Dong Xiu with a little bit of comfort. After all, it was a little more chilly than it should be for such a sunny day. Dong Xiu sat when his job was over, and he stared into the open flames. The gentle chatter of the birds around and the trickling of the stream were gateways for his mind to stray and think.

He picked up a spare stick from the ground and started to draw on the dirt. He made a rough sketch of the Eastern continent, only really making a circle for the capital, the Eastern military camps, and the southern, indigenous military camps. Roughly, he made an estimate of where the supply base they were set to raid the day before was, then estimated roughly how far off he and Wu Lang had derailed. He made a quick assumption that they weren’t exactly too far from getting out of the red zone, but he couldn’t exactly guarantee their own safety. After all, if the beast rampaged further north, then it puts ally troops farther than anticipated. They weren’t entirely in the lion’s den… yet getting caught certainly did spell death.

It wasn’t that long after he evaluated the situation that he heard a shuffle behind him. Dong Xiu had to take a quick glance over his shoulder to confirm that it was the little slayer. Indeed it was Wu Lang, who was trotting back with the ears of two white, bloodied rabbits in his hands. Dong Xiu nodded his head at the other, but then noticed something new on the juvenile’s other hand. 

“What do you get there?” 

“Some mushroom,” Wu Lang spoke as he neared. He placed the dead rabbits near Dong Xiu as he examined the fungi in his other hand with some sort of fascination in his body language. “They’re poisonous.” 

Dong Xiu jolted and asked in a ridiculous tone, “Why the hell would you bring those?!”

“Poison,” the kid answered simply as he went to the other side of the flickering flames. If Dong Xiu had to put an expression on the other’s eyes, it would be the word “happy”. But not happy in the sense where he enjoyed it--but “happy” as if the child had found a lost friend. The man couldn’t help but look of pity he shot the child.

“...Do you like poison?”

“Yes.” 

“...” 

Dong Xiu didn’t say anything more. He turned to the rabbit corpses and pulled out a simple knife from his belt. As he worked on gutting the rabbits, the fourteen-year-old child was busy mumbling to himself and poking at the red-colored items. It was probably some short time after the adult had screwed the bunnies onto some sticks and stuffed them near the fire did he hear the child’s voice say, “I’ll have to consume a portion to test the lethality.”

“...” So, the kid is suicidal? Dong Xiu gave a sound, then he switched topics by asking something he was familiar with, “How far do you estimate we’ll make it today?”

This caught Wu Lang’s attention and he lifted his eyes to the other. Dong Xiu lazily made a motion to the dirt drawings he made earlier. When the assassin took note of this, he placed his precious, poisonous mushrooms to the side and walked over to examine the map. With a bit of thought, Wu Lang pointed and said, “The beast must still be around there.” 

“If it’s not dead by the flames,” Dong Xiu laughed bitterly as he watched the meals they were going to have crisp. Wu Lang was confused by the statement and retorted, “General Dong, is it not a flame beast?” 

“No,” Dong Xiu’s malachite eyes darted to his sword, which lay on the dirt. He felt a pang of pity for it. It was far too noble of a weapon to be left without a proper hoist, but it was too long to be carried properly. “It was a beast set on fire.” 

“...”

“But, assuming that it is alive, you’re right,” He sighed as he leaned back a little, tilting his head up towards the sky to check the time. It seemed no sooner than the hour of the snake. It was another factor to consider; the threat of the beast. If it was still around, assuming that it had survived from being burned alive, it posed a threat in returning home. The marquis grimaced at the thought.

“If we take the route back west then up north, then we’re most likely going to get spotted by the enemy since they are expecting us to be simple-minded,” Wu Lang estimated before he picked up a stick and drew a line to the west. Dong Xiu had turned his eyes back to the map to watch. “I suggest going further into the territories and emerging from the east.” 

“That’ll take a long time,” Dong Xiu was in a hurry to return home. After all, he had three beautiful girls to hug and a wife to spend time with. At this point, these were his only reasons for making it out of this hellhole alive. “If we go with that route, we won’t make it home until after the new year.” They were about a half a month from the new year, and Dong Xiu didn’t have that kind of time.

“...” Wu Lang’s brows furrowed and Dong Xiu can see the crease in the other’s mask. Dong Xiu slapped his knees gently before saying, “How about… we head back west as quietly as we can?”

“They’ll know we’ll be going back that way, sir.” 

“Hm…” 

“We could… head directly north too,” Wu Lang suggested, making another light line upwards. It was a more direct approach and they could work around any sort of forest. Their only major obstacle would be to go through the fort again, seeing how they didn’t know if there were enemies patrolling the area or if that large beast was dead. Dong Xiu gave a hum at the thought. So far, all three options were on the table. The adult sighed, then motioned for the child to sit down. 

“We’ll think about it after we eat. I’m starving.” 

“...You’re always hungry,” Wu Lang muttered under his breath childishly before taking his seat next to his poisonous mushrooms. Dong Xiu couldn’t help but laugh at the words. Indeed. For a rich person, he was always hungry.

  
  
  


After their relatively short meal, Dong Xiu and Wu Lang started their walk back up north. They made sure that whatever evidence of their small camp was destroyed to not leave any evidence of their presence just in case some of the enemies scouted the area. The two marched through the wooded areas and avoided anywhere where they suspected to be pockets of tribes that might be wondering about. They stood quiet throughout their journey, having nothing to be said between them and not wanting to draw unnecessary attention. To their own luck, the peaceful wildlife around them didn’t see the two as threats and continued to chatter. Dong Xiu praised his lucky stars that he was not born king, or else things would have been very different.

“So, what did you test with the mushrooms,” Dong Xiu finally sighed out after their long walk. He shifted his long weapon to his other hand since the current one had gotten tired. It was relatively quiet and they were walking along a stream in a small opening in the forest. It was very odd to be walking out in the open with no sort of large foliage to take cover under. In fact, it felt more like a friendly hunt rather than their journey home. The boy’s interest seemed piqued at Dong Xiu’s question and he hummed, “It’s not too harmful. For people with less immunity, it could prove lethal if injected into the bloodstream.” 

“Immunity?” Dong Xiu couldn’t help but look back at the kid who trotted behind him, those hazel and turquoise eyes staring at the ground as if it was more interesting than whatever was in front of him. With them being so close, Dong Xiu could pinpoint that the child was just a bit below his chest. The word tickled him for a moment before he asked, “Are you of poison element?” 

“No,” Wu Lang shook his head, those red locks look so smooth under the sunlight. “I developed an immunity to it because grandmother worked as an apothecary. I had to fetch the snakes.”

“Snakes…” Dong Xiu gave an empty hum, placing his hands behind his back, his weapon pressed against his height. He could feel the metal of the guard press against the back of his head. “Then what is your special ability? If you have one.” 

“...I don’t know,” the child said honestly. 

Dong Xiu hummed emptily in acknowledgment. He was more than aware that there are some demons without any special traits. His own mother had been one of these untalented demons before her sudden and untimely death. The only outstanding thing that she did that he happened to inherit was a bottomless pit for a stomach. He assumed the child had no outstanding qualities, so he didn’t speak of anything more. After all, it was thanks to the royal blood of his father’s family that he controlled the winds as freely as he did.

The two continued to follow the river, the calming breeze brushing over their locks and by their ears. It was a very nice silent walk on their way north. 

But… it was silent. 

“Wait, wait,” Dong Xiu lifted his head and stopped in his tracks. The child behind him stopped as well, thankfully mute as always. He didn’t seem bothered by the fact that they were forced to stop. Dong Xiu glanced around with his eyes, searching for any clue of life around them. As he thought, there was nothing to signal movement or sound in the area. The birds have all gone quiet, animals had hidden away, and the only sounds that entered his ears were the soft trickling of water and gentle sways of leaves and grass. It seemed that the eerie silence had been picked up by Wu Lang as well, his hands immediately going for his blades that were strapped behind his back. Like the kid, Dong Xiu gradually moved his hands to a ready position, his weapon held by his side and his free hand clasped tightly around the large hilt. 

“...” 

“...” 

They stood motionless for a while, expecting and observing the area around them.

After some long seconds, Dong Xiu was the first to speak, “...let’s move.” He didn’t exactly relax his stance, however. He continued to move across the clearing, but his hand stilled at the long hilt of his sword. Wu Lang followed, those heterochromia eyes darting around for any sign of danger. Dong Xiu was cautious as well, but his eyes remained fixed in the dense woods that they were walking to while on their journey north. 

Their advance was slow because of their caution, but they managed to follow along the river to the dense foliage. The trees were so packed and close together that it made it seem as if the sun had been blocked out by the canopy. They perhaps stalked silently a few couple of feet from the clearance when suddenly the leaves above them shook and heavy figures dropped from above and charged. Wu Lang was the first to react to the threats, his hands ripping his draggers from their place and he spun to slice quickly at the enemies that charged in from behind. Dong Xiu didn’t waste time unsheathing his long blade too--pulling it out halfway and thrusting it in front of himself to block an attack from a marked tribesman. The man glared at him with dark eyes and an expression of hatred twisted onto his face. Without thinking, Dong Xiu pushed his strength into his arms and legs and pushed the pressure back towards the man, growling lowly in his throat as he did so. The tribesman flipped away, brandishing his bone weapon in front of him in a stance ready to strike again. From behind him, Dong Xiu also heard scuffles and ruffles until he ultimately felt something flat and warm press lightly against his back. He withdrew his blade completely, holding the long sheath with one hand while he impressively held out the long sword towards his assailant. 

“How many are there?” Dong Xiu didn’t bother to look behind him, his green orbs kept trained on the man in front of him.

“Three back here, general,” Wu Lang replied. “With the one your facing, that makes four.”

“A small fleet then,” Dong Xiu breathed out some air. He wasn’t exactly relieved, but he felt annoyed that their journey home was interrupted. He was glad that this wasn’t a large platoon. If he tried his hardest, he could deal with three men. And seeing how the little poison-loving slayer is helping him, he estimated that the boy can deal massive damage to several of these men too. In all, they don't need to work hard to get this over with and continue. “That only means they haven’t found out.” 

“Hn,” Wu Lang hummed. There was a small click as Wu Lang unfastened something from his belt. Then the sound of cloth against metal. Whatever the boy picked out of his hidden pocket, he coated his blades with the substance before returning the cloth to it’s hidden spot. “Even if they escape, I’ll make sure they don’t leave alive.” 

“That’s what I like to hear,” Dong Xiu chuckled darkly under his breath. The painted demons around them barked and howled words in their native tongue, the language of the south-east islands unfamiliar to both of the Eastern demons. Almost immediately after the loud clamor of the demon folk ended, they charged at the duo. Dong Xiu braced himself, being defensive this time by holding out his long sword in a block. It was hard to maneuver the long and heavy weapon with one hand, but he changed the angle of his arm and gathered his strength there. Their weapons clashed and Dong Xiu let out a soft grunt at the pressure. With a gentle “tch” from his mouth, a gust of wind suddenly blew; it’s gale suddenly charging at the person who pressed his weapon against Dong Xiu and tossing the tribesmen out. Behind him, Dong Xiu can hear the classing cutting of wind and clashing of blades as Wu Lang battled against the three he faced off against. Dong Xiu took a quick glance behind him to make sure that everything was okay, and sure enough, the child did not disappoint from being in the Slayer’s corp. The young cardinal-haired boy was swift with his footwork and smooth with his body movement--blades appeared to be flying in the air as the darkly dressed assassin pierced and aimed at sweet, delicate spots on the enemies all the while avoiding and deflecting attacks from the enemies. Dong Xiu turned his body, held his sword above his head and shouted, “Behind!”

Wu Lang seemed to understand the warning. In a flash, the short child disengaged from his enemies and leaped up into the air; Dong Xiu turned on his heel and slashed the air with his weapon. A gust of powerful winds blew through the area and the three enemies that had faced against the young assassin were suddenly blown into the air, tossed back a couple of feet until their backs smashed against the barks of trees. From behind him, Dong Xiu heard the cutting of air and a wet sound of something piercing into flesh along with the grunt of pain. The general could guess what had happened, and, for this moment, he trusted the child to do his share of the battle. Holding his long weapon out the best he could while having the long sheath behind him, he observed his enemies. The boy had done a beautiful job covering them with precise cuts. All of the demons from the Mulberry islands had red skin and horns protruding from their skulls. It looked hideous, but it was understandable since the chain of islands was much more southern than the rest of the eastern country. It wasn’t completely out of the park to assume that these hideous demons had some blood of southerners. 

There was another sound behind him, then the boy pressed his back against Dong Xiu’s again, a gentle huff escaping him as he glared at his enemies and tightened his grip on his blade further. “They all won’t make it out alive. Not with the poison that I have entered in their bloodstream.” 

“Is it from that mushroom you were so obsessed about earlier?” Dong Xiu couldn’t help the slight laughter in his voice as his lips pulled upwards. The gentle grunt of confirmation behind him only confirmed his suspicions. Dong Xiu gave a small laugh before saying, “Very well, child.”

“I wasn’t looking for praise,” Wu Lang replied snarkily. Dong Xiu couldn’t find anything less than humor in the words. Surely, getting snapped at by a child was hilarious. 

The three men that slid down the trees shouted something, and the man behind Dong Xiu dug into his hide clothing and pulled out something. High on alert, Dong Xiu thought it was an explosion of sorts so he quickly turned his body around, his arm arcing widely to pull the child behind him as he faced the warrior tribesmen. The demon savage has in his hand a rock that glowed an ominous blue and with white specks as if someone had taken a sample of the night sky and captured it into the object. The Marquis’ eyes were drawn to the object, and from there it’s as if everything went silent. It wasn’t as if everything went completely silent, but to Dong Xiu, he could no longer hear or see anything clearly--as if his connection with reality suddenly cut off. He was floating in the darkness, empty and unresponsive.

Within him, something sinister moved--as if awakening from it’s thousand-year-long slumber. 

“ _..hsiu. D..ng hs..u..!_ ” someone called out, but the voice was too far away from him to register.

The darkness inside of him churned and gave a sound akin to laughter. Dong Xiu was numbed to what was happening, standing dumbly as if waiting for an explanation. He heard a rumble, then a distant voice that drummed and went through his entire body. 

_I’m so hungry. Feed me_

_It_ demanded. 

  
  


He felt his hands sink into flesh, his throat rumbled in a roar as he lunged onto the body of his prey. For as numb as he felt, he felt only one profound thing beating in his chest, frantic and maddening. But even though it was in his chest, it felt distant and unfamiliar to him.

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump_

“ _..ong hs...u!!_ ” 

  
  


He saw the petrified face below him that silently screamed in horror as his clawed hands tore into that delicious flesh. It was much more of a treat than human flesh, from the many years he remembered consuming countless beings. Even if he didn’t directly eat them, from his forefather, he can still remember the taste on his tongue. The blood that landed on his lips from this being just about started his undying appetite. His stomach rumbled. 

He was so hungry… 

_I'm so very hungry._

  
  


Instincts ran through him as he turned around from the corpse that was torn apart, his lips dripping with fresh liquid as he swallowed the delicious meat. Dong Xiu continued to stand mutely by, but he felt his body lunge in front of the child, bloody arm reaching up to slap away the sharp weapons. He didn’t feel pain even though he knew that his skin had split open from the wounds. Instead of taking a proper step back to check his wounds, the demon reached out and grabbed the thick neck of the painted, horned other. He wasn’t aware if he was gripping the other demon with that much strength, and he tightened his hold just a little to feel the firmness of the hold. However, as soon as his hands tightened, a dull crack sounded and suddenly a gush of red exploded from the other’s mouth, nose and ears--the man going slack. Dong Xiu wasn’t even aware that he had held the other off the ground until he tossed the limp body behind him with little effort. In fact, it had even startled him at how effortless the entire ordeal was. How fast did it take him to travel the distance between the first dead body to here? 

He felt his throat grumbled, but the words he heard his voice say it---it wasn’t something he recognized.

“ _Gohn Un-tahl Nah-vahn-gohn_ ,” he had said in an ancient utterance, a slight growl in his voice as he spoke. Then he felt as if something wanted to come out of his body, trying to claw its way out of his back from the inside. In his mind, he saw flashes of that blue stone. He saw it flicker wildly a midnight blue and crack as it birthed this feeling of wanting to escape--this feeling to burst out of his skin and run free and do as he desired.

He saw ribbons of black mist dance around him as he took his weapon in one hand and readied it in front of himself. His other hand had lost the sheath a long while ago as it was bloodied with bits of hanging flesh still clinging to his sharpened claws. He saw the nervous glances of the other men, but his chest grew light in the excitement in contrast to his overall dumbness. It didn’t quite register for him exactly what happened even after he felt his body dart forward and attack.

Instead, the most profound thing he felt was the rumble in his stomach and numbness in his mind.

He watched as his body acted on its own. Slicing at tender spots on the men’s legs to make them immobile, then ignoring their pleads and sounds of surrender as his blade quickly slashed at their throats. Not enough to kill them, but enough to make that delicious red coloring spill out. He saw his already bloody hand reach out to rip the skin open more and rip out the insides and tear at the bones. 

_What… is… going on?_ He asked himself, but the only answer he received was a vicious snarl. The blue gem was still flashing in his mind, and he felt that darkness start to swell inside of him--it was too much for him to understand and, very quickly, the black waves overtook him. His entire vision was nothing was darkness as he felt his body continue its instinct to satisfy his greed. 

  
  


_I can’t breathe._

_I’m so hungry._

_I can’t see._

_I’m so hungry._

_What is happening?_

_I’m so hungry._

_I’m so…_

_...Hungry._

  
  


Dong Xiu was absorbed in the darkness, the only flashing image in his mind was that rock. He could feel that ravaging, ravenous darkness quickly consume him--but to say that he was scared was not correct. In fact, he was dumbfounded. He allowed the blackness to grab hold of his head and pull him further into its unrelenting hold. He knew vaguely that if he didn’t fight back, he would perish. Yet, the demon couldn’t do anything to control this rapidly awakening animal within him.

Then the stone shattered, and his fall into the abyss stopped abruptly.

  
  
  


_“Mama, why are you always hungry?” he had asked his mother once. She stopped mid-chew of her meal to look at him. It was no secret; she was once a poor woman that had gained her husband’s affections. He knew that his father married her because she was a mystery to him, even if she didn’t look outstandingly beautiful. In fact, he knew that his father had other women visitors--the man was not at all in love with his wife, but he just loved to keep her around because of that air of mystery she gave off. Then again, it didn’t look like she cared much for her husband anyways. As long as she had something to fill her stomach and that her son was safe, she didn’t have much care for anything._

_“...Dong Xiu,” She called him, putting down her meal. They were alone on the patio, his father left for work earlier. She put her hand on his shoulder and said calmly, “In due time, you will understand. But when you do, you need to not speak of it. And you cannot let it consume you.”_

_“I don’t understand,” he dropped his green eyes to her bowl. The woman laughed. She raised her finger and tapped his nose and said, “Did I tell you about my family history?”_

_“No, mama. You never talk about yourself,” The twelve-year-old was interested in the family history of his mother’s side. After all, he knew that his father’s side descended from the Eastern royals, so all he needed to know was the background of his mother. She giggled and continued her speech._

_“My father’s grandfather was also very hungry. But he was sentenced to death by the entirety of the demon realm because of it,” She gently stroked her son’s shoulder. “And my father disappeared when his hunger became too much.”_

_“I don’t get it. What are you talking about?”_

_“That girl, do you like her?”_

_“Yuan Ji? Yeah!”_

_She offered him a sad smile before she said ambiguously--something he couldn’t understand at the time, “When you feel that hunger, don’t tell anyone about it. Resist it as much as you can, even if it kills you. It’s better to die resisting that feeling of insatiable hunger than to let the world hunt you down. For that girl. You hear me?”_

_“...O-okay…” He was still confused. He didn’t know what she was talking about._

  
  
  
  
  
  


Dong Xiu cracked his eyes open with a moan, struggling against the stinging that instantly assaulted his eyes. His vision was blurry and he couldn’t help the groan that escaped his throat as he blinked away the wetness a few times. When the water of tiredness rolled from the corners of his eyes, he sat up and hissed from a pang of discomfort. Immediately his eyes went to look at what hurt, and he had found his hand bandaged crudely. The gauze was wrapped between his ring finger and middle finger and wrapped around the entirety of his hand tightly, and blood had seeped between the two fingers. It seemed like whoever had bandaged him up had done it hastily but trying to seal a cut that had split his hand open down the middle. It was laughable, but he couldn’t say anything more. Looking around, however, he almost wasn’t surprised to see that he had laid amongst four corpses that looked as if ravage beasts came and ate them. He wanted to grin, but as soon as his mouth moved, he felt the instinct to throw up.

He turned to the side and did exactly that. Silently vomiting a mess of crimson retch.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Wu Lang’s voice was calm, but Dong Xiu could perhaps hear more of the childish tone that any adult would expect from a youngster. The adult looked over his shoulder after wiping his mouth with whatever clean portion of his reddened sleeves towards the child who had a fragment of a dull, dark blue stone in his hands as if he had been in the middle of studying the substance before he noticed that his commander had woken up. 

“How long has it been?” Dong Xiu asked groggily, not completely awake and feeling sick to his stomach for some unknown reason. The red-haired youth turned his heterochromia eyes upwards and hummed, his black mask moving a little with the shift of the lips behind them. “An hour. Since you passed out.” 

“Oh,” Dong Xiu sighed. 

“...Do you… remember what happened?” Wu Lang asked cautiously, those hazel and turquoise eyes returning to Dong Xiu with a bit of a squint. It was as if he was searching for something within the other. Dong Xiu pause, green eyes deflecting to some other place. 

He remembers. But he wished he hadn’t.

“..No,” The man said in a flat voice. Whether or not the kid knew that he was lying or not didn’t matter. Wu Lang didn’t proceed with the topic further. The darkly dressed boy dropped the bits of dark-blue stone that was in his hands and he dusted his hands off.

“Fine. We should continue north then,” Wu Lang nodded, even dusting off his pants from the debris. Then he reached behind him to grab the filled flask at his belt and held it out to the marquis, “Do you need water?” 

“...Yeah, I guess,” Dong Xiu reached out to grab the item, then he added, “Also, can we eat something?”

“...” Wu Lang brows scrunched up and Dong Xiu could swear that the kid had winced behind his mask. There was a bit of silence between them before Wu Lang said in an indefinable tone, “Haven’t you eaten enough already?”

  
  


The two continued onward after Dong Xiu took a small break. Unfortunately, during that time, the marquis didn’t have time to wash his clothes from the blood, so he only dried them as best he could and decided to remain wearing the blood-dyed fabrics. Dong Xiu was a man that would continue onward from early morning to midnight (this is not including the fact that he had passed out midday), but he overestimated the endurance of a child. Some moments during their trek, Dong Xiu had noticed that the little red-haired child was slowing down. It wasn’t until there was ten feet between them did the adult pause in his steps and looked over at the distressed child. 

“Do you want to take a break?” He asked, tilting his head at the boy. The kid shook his head, but even as he was shaking his head ‘no’, he stopped in his tracks and hunched over with his gloved hands at his knees.

“No… I just… um…” The child was breathing laboriously. Dong Xiu’s brilliant green eyes caught the small tremors of the other’s tiny frame as the child continued to try and talk himself into continuing the long walk, “I-I’m…. I’m fine… M-my legs j-just hur-hurt…” 

“It’s okay, kid,” Dong Xiu shifted his weapon from one hand to the other as he strode his way back to the boy. He squatted down and looked up at the masked youth. He could see the tiredness on the child’s face--and honestly, he felt a small wave of tenderness for the kid well in his heart. No child should be made to work such physically difficult jobs. “How about this? I’ll carry you on my back while looking for a place to rest.” 

“B-but--” 

“No buts!” Dong Xiu reached up and patted the child’s mask with one hand. Then he grasped the kid’s arm and pulled him over while shifting his position. When the child’s body touched his back, he hooked his weapon behind the kid’s legs, secured his hands on both sides of the long sword, and pushed up off the ground whilst slightly hunched over to prevent the child from falling. The kid’s gloved hands bit into Dong Xiu’s shoulder, but the adult couldn’t find it in himself to get angry. Instead, he chuckled, “Wu Lang! Relax! This is nothing.”

“N-N-No--” Wu Lang was flustered, but Dong Xiu ignored him and walked forward again albeit at a slower pace than his normal walking speed. The blushing child on his back only tensed harder and stammered. “G-General…” 

“It’s fine, kid,” Dong Xiu wasn’t at all bothered with the extra weight on him. In fact, he didn’t seem to find himself bothered by the kid anymore. Instead, the more he spent time with the boy, the more he realized how much he kind of appreciated him. Wu Lang didn’t have a mean bone in his body. In fact, hearing him stammer from his exhaustion and act like a frightened kitten was rather endearing. “Relax. I’ll find a good place to rest. It’s fine.” 

Dong Xiu didn’t feel the kid relax into the hold until about fifteen minutes into the walk. It was twenty minutes after that when Dong Xiu had found an underground den that seemingly belonged to a pack of Wolf Demons, then only then did the adult realize that the child had fallen asleep on his back. The steady ups-and-downs of the kid’s body brought a certain type of warmth to the father of three--as well as the sense of longing to go back home as quickly as he could. As gentle as he could in the small, dark dome, Dong Xiu placed the child down on the ground. Although he couldn’t see in the blackness, he felt around for the kid’s mask and removed the cloth. He placed the article to the side, then crawled out the opening. The former wolf den was a pretty good size for a kid of Wu Lang’s height--but to a man as tall as Dong Xiu, he practically felt more pain being forced to crouch around in there.

Outside the den, Dong Xiu gathered some wood and dead leaves from the foliage and started the campfire some distance away from the entrance of the den that Wu Lang slept peacefully in. As a father, he wanted to wrap the child in something warm but he had nothing to offer. Not even his once off-white robes could accommodate any warmth for the child. 

The marquis sighed as he looked at his bandaged hands, the only light that was provided to him was from the flickering and popping flames in front of him. His emerald eyes took in the crusty, dried blood that clung to his skin, and how his once-beautiful robes had now been spoiled beyond repair with red fluids. He wanted to tear these disgusting garments off of him and run from the issue that pestered in his mind for a while now. 

Exactly, what happened?

He could ask himself that question a thousand times over, but the only thing that he could clearly remember before he disconnected from the realm of reality was that blue glowing stone. He remembered the feeling of something thrashing and rejoicing inside of him, wanting to escape its fleshy prison and emerge into the world; and he could remember how hungry he was and how delicious the taste of blood and flesh had been. He thought back to when he came back to consciousness. Wu Lang had shards of blue in his hands and below the child had been dust and more fragments of this strange stone. Studying at the evidence in retrospect, he assumed that the quick-witted boy had seen his maddening state, realized what had triggered it, and swiftly dealt with the problem. 

“What a smart child,” Dong Xiu couldn’t help but praise genuinely, a soft chuckle escaping his lips as he leaned against the rocky entrance. His eyes glanced up to the sky, watching the bright half-moon against the beautiful stars in the dark blue heavens.

  
  


“Dong Xiu.” 

“Hm…” The marquis struggled to open his eyes. His shoulder was lightly shaken and he heard Wu Lang’s low voice speak. This time he didn’t get angry from being awoken. Instead, he sluggishly turned his head to the boy. The boy had his mask back on, and the traces of exhaustion that had painted that youthful face where gone. Dong Xiu blinked away his own sleepiness then yawned, blocking his widening mouth with his hand as he spoke, “Rested?” 

“Yes,” The red-haired youth nodded as he took back his hands and rested them on his lap. His unique eyes drifted downwards as well as he spoke softly, “Thank you.” 

“It’s okay, boy,” Dong Xiu patted the kid’s arm and gave him a smile. Not yet feeling in the mood to get up, the adult relaxed against the rocks behind him and picked out a random topic to talk about, “Say, when’s your birthday?” 

“I don’t know,” Wu Lang watched the general carefully, tilting his head a bit as he also relaxed his small shoulders. Dong Xiu raised a brow in curiosity and he asked, “You don’t know? Didn’t you say that it was in the winter?” 

“Yes… b-but that’s about the only thing I know…” 

“So, that grandma of yours never told you a specific date?” Dong Xiu couldn’t help himself from questioning. More and more this child was becoming more and more of a cute, stray animal in his eyes. Wu Lang shook his head at the question, muttering under his breath about how something like that was never important. Dong Xiu had a different view. He thought birthdays were the biggest thing in the world. If he even delayed on his daughters’ birthdays for just a second, the little girls will throw such a huge fit that it would put the rest of his plans on hold. Of course, he also celebrated his wives’ birthdays. In his mind, birthdays were very important. There was a lot of food to go around, and it celebrated the days the person spent alive.

Dong Xiu inhaled as he thought, voicing slowly, “You say that your birthday is in the winter… And it’s going to be winter fairly soon. Unfortunately, we don’t have a calendar on hand, so why don’t we simplify it and just say that your birthday falls on the day of the new year?” 

“Wh-what?!” The child narrowed his eyes as he shouted in shock at the other’s stupid utterance. The child thought of it as a joke and scoffed, rolling his eyes to the heavens as he pushed himself to his feet while cursing his general. Dong Xiu didn’t find any offense at the child’s action of embarrassment. Instead, he couldn’t help himself and he grinned from enjoyment.

“You’re getting your own breakfast!” Wu Lang shouted as he marched onwards.

“Oh, Wu Lang! No! Father was kidding!”

“Sh-shut your face!” 

“So mean!”

  
  
  


They emerged from the woods after hours of walking in silence. They came to the field of silver grass that swayed with the wind looking like waves of silver and green. Dong Xiu knew this spot--it was Respite Field. The grass was very high--reaching Dong Xiu’s waist and almost completely burying the short child next to him. The adult couldn’t help but whistle. 

They were finally in familiar territories. 

“We’re here,” Dong Xiu grinned, clasping a hand around the child’s shoulder. The kid seemed amazed at their progress in two days of uninterrupted journeying. The little child let out a relieved titter before his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the ground. Being a parent, Dong Xiu was naturally concerned over the wellbeing of the child and he quickly dropped his weapon and checked on the boy. “Hey! Wu Lang!” 

“I’m fine…” The boy inhaled. Dong Xiu swore that he could see the black material of the kid’s face stretch--undoubtedly the child was smiling. “I’m j-just… M-my legs hurt.” 

Of course, Dong Xiu knew exactly what kind of ache the kid was talking about. After all, the only reason for their incredible progress was due to the fact that they haven’t taken a proper break aside from sleeping. He also knew that the child wouldn’t let him carry him again, so the adult pinched the other’s thigh and tease, “When we get home, you can bathe in hot water and have all the cake papa will bake you later!” 

“Oh, shut up!” Wu Lang surprisingly joined in the jest, his own hand coming around to slap at the adult’s arm as he giggled again. “Papa can’t bake cakes because he’ll get hungry and eat the dough!”

“Hey! Jinxing is a sin!” Dong Xiu helped the boy to his feet and he ruffled those matted, red mop of hair affectionately. Wu Lang only laughed at the action, his tiny hand reaching up to swat away the other. The two had gotten considerably close after their experience together; the veil of animosity held between them falling away and revealing that they both had harbored no hard feelings towards each other. With each passing moment they spent together, they came to respect each other as fellow demons.

After picking up his sword off the ground, the adult took the child’s hand and led him through the tall, silver grass. Although they were only a few miles from safety, they still had to be on guard; the tall grass could easily be an easy ambush site. They moved quickly, and it wasn’t long until they heard rustling from afar; their joy was quickly shifted to fear and readiness as they quickened their legs. No doubt, their worst fears were true as they were being stalked by more tribespeople and their tamed beasts. Dong Xiu and Wu Lang were practically at a sprint by the time they made it halfway through the field, the larger hand gripped tightly around the smaller hand as he pulled the child close behind him. There was a sudden howl behind them; a black hound with dripping ooze flying behind it chased after them at an alarming speed. 

“Shit,” Wu Lang cursed as his little feet started to trip. 

“Keep up!!” Dong Xiu yelled. He could feel the uneasiness in the other’s step, and his heart was in his throat when he realized that they were slowing down. Although the cruel action of releasing his hold on the child’s hand and continuing on was there, it never crossed the general’s mind. Instead, the bloodied marquis used a bit of strength and demonic energy as he pushed the child in front of him, using his diabolical drafts to help move the kid before he gave a burst of wind toward’s the child’s back--launching the child forward several good meters. Of course, the power of the winds took the child’s by surprise as he was pushed forward and he rolled through the flattened grass. Without missing a beat, the kid jumped to his feet and looked back at Dong Xiu, who continued to run forward.

“Go!” Dong Xiu shouted as he felt the hell hound behind him gain distance. Wu Lang didn’t stall. The kid turned and continued to run ahead. Dong Xiu knew that the kid was safe from danger--and now he was the only one he needed to worry about.

He felt the train of his robes get tugged on and he couldn’t help but grunt, turning his torso a bit to slap the ruby-eyed dog on the nose. However, it only further agitated the dog, who snarled up at Dong Xiu with its black teeth. It wasn’t long until Dong Xiu felt something fly past him and strike the dog in the chest--the object being a dull dagger with a slight glint on it. 

“Dong Xiu!” Wu Lang’s voice shouted for him from afar. The adult couldn’t help but curse a child’s stubbornness to not leave a parent figure. He was about to turn back to yell at the child for not running until a strong voice cut through the dire atmosphere.

“ _Fire!_ ” 

From above rained fire arrows, three of which struck the hellhound that attacked Dong Xiu. With a cry, the inky dog collapsed, consumed by the arrows. As well, he heard the screams of other beasts and demons as they were pierced by the arrowed that fell and struck them with such precise aim. Dong Xiu blinked before he turned his head to the horizon that he and Wu Lang had been racing toward.

A platoon of archers had their bows ready, and behind them was a handful of warrior soldiers ready to charge in when commanded. Riding on a white warhorse, a woman in leather armor with her black hair tied in a compact bun looked down at him directly. Her back was straight and the sun that hid behind her gave her the image of being stalwart and beautiful despite her modest face lighted with freckles and blessed with a small nose and soft eyes--and he couldn’t help but fall in love with her powerful figure.

“Yuan Ji!” the name of his beloved slipped from his lips and his racing heart trembled from something other than adrenaline. He smiled up at her and from the long distance between them, she returned the smile. 

There was one thing that every other man overlooked when it came to his woman, and it was the fact that she was much more than what her modest appearance offered.

“Sentry unit, recover the subjects!” She commanded, looking to her left to the group of fully armored troops that quickly dislodged from the entirety of the platoon and raced down towards the silver grass. She then looked to her right and commanded, “Slayer unit, follow and cover. Kill on sight at any malicious beings.” 

“Yes, ma’am!” Her underlings treated her words seriously and moved to do their tasks. The female leader waited a bit before jumping off of her horse, even though her aides rushed to reprimand her. 

“Dong _furen!_ ” 

“That’s _my_ husband!” She snapped back, shooting a glare at the official that had accompanied her on this rescue mission. She didn’t take command often since she had no passion for war, but she was not at all afraid to take authority of her husband’s squad when she felt that circumstances called for it. Nonetheless, when she received news of Dong Xiu’s disappearance and how quickly Shan Liu had been to declare her husband dead, she had forced her way through to the high ranking generals and pleaded with the king to let her take charge to search for her husband. She didn’t even care if it was because of a political stunt that every damnable lieutenant and commander would try to declare Dong Xiu dead so quickly--in fact, the only thing that kept her up with anxiousness at night and made her refuse to eat was the need to find her husband.

With haste, the battle-ready woman followed her troops down to the field, her steps a little clumsy as she was not at all used to the boots. Although she didn’t exactly run, her footsteps were hasty and her heart thumped frantically in her chest--a sense of emotion welling in her to the point where she felt heat travel to her face. They were only a few feet away when Dong Xiu dropped his weapon and bolted towards her, disregarding the crowd around them that kept high vigilance. She didn’t care a single bit about the bloodied clothes of her husband when he wrapped his arms around her. Instead, her eyes instantly filled with water; the warmth of his body holding hers proving too much for her fragile heart that fluttered and wept in relief. 

To Dong Xiu, it felt as if he came home. 

“Yuan Ji!” He had one hand around her waist while his other arm wrapped around her shoulder, his large hand clasped gently around her head and pulling her close to him. He wanted to continue hugging her close and shower her with kisses and tell her _“I love you”_ so much right now, but the only thing that he could do was laugh and hold her shorter body close to him tightly. “Ah, you madwoman!!” 

“Madwoman? Dong Xiu, you’re the mad one here!” she couldn’t hold back her return quip, pulling away to weakly punch at his chest. He didn’t take offense to her affectionate attack though. Instead, he took advantage of the space between them to plant a smooch on her forehead, cupping her beautiful face in his hand as he continued to press his lips against her soft skin. The platoon around the didn’t mind their public display of affection, but one person did. He rolled his hazel and greenish-blue eyes to the sky and made a sound. 

“Dong Xiu, I’m going to barf on you!” Wu Lang bellowed as he was helped up by another person of the slayer unit. Dong Xiu couldn’t help but belt out a burst of hearty laughter at the other’s objection, and every adult tried to choke their laughter at the child’s outburst.

He then tilted his woman’s face upwards and gently kissed her pillowy lips, sighing when he parted, green eyes looking benevolently at the woman’s own dark orbs as he muttered, “I love you.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Dong Xiu didn’t know what exactly prompted that memory. He was hunched over his desk, looking over the plans for the renovations of the hotels that he had up near the kingdom of the east. He hummed as he tapped his lips at the memory. He thought back to the experience, wondering exactly it was that his mind wanted to remind him of. 

Almost on cue, the second, menacing voice in his head laughed, and he couldn’t help the shivers that ran on his skin. He heard a familiar voice remind him:

_“When you feel that hunger, don’t tell anyone about it. Resist it as much as you can, even if it kills you.”_

“Father!” his oldest daughter’s voice cut through his thoughts as she waited for his response from the threshold of his study. He looked up innocently at the girl. She was dressed beautifully in her summer dress, starting off a velvet green and transitioning to a pretty pink. His first remark when she picked out the dress some time ago was that it made her look like a watermelon, a remark that had her eyes rolling in mild annoyance. He couldn’t help it, being the embarrassing father was a charm of his.

“Hm? What’s up, Minmin?” he said as he rolled back on his chair. In the distance, he could hear the qin strum from downstairs, slowly playing the tone of his favorite love song. It was something he taught Wu Lang in randomness one day sometime before the new year of that time when the red-haired boy had just freshly vowed to be his retainer through death and hardships. Wu Lang, although much older than the girls, had been teaching the youngest daughter how to play the stringed instrument these past few days, and his oldest daughter appeared to have been fed up with it. He expected his spoiled eldest to complain about the qin being occupied by the assassin, or that the man wasn’t acting properly for a stealthy shadow. Either way, Dong Xiu crafted in his head an excuse to defend Wu Lang.

Dong Wenmin had a pout on her pink lips as her green eyes were clear with her displeasure. The twelve-year-old girl crossed her arms over her chest, her long, brown hair falling behind her in twin-tails. She was such a beautiful girl, and he was honestly surprised she hadn’t taken up interest with any of the handsome young boys that visited from time to time. “Liming is taking Wu Lang’s time again!” 

“And…?” Dong Xiu blinked in confusion at his daughter’s temper and the lack of anger towards Wu Lang. Instead, from the context, his daughter seemed...jealous? He reached a hand out to her, and the girl marched over, grabbing her father’s hand as he pulled her gently towards him in a soft embrace. He was genuinely curious as to why she was so concerned about how his assassin spent his time. “Liming taking Wu Lang’s time? Why are you so upset about that?” 

“B-because… I wanted him to teach me how to play the qin!” Her argument sounded pretentious, but he caught the slight blush that had made it onto her white face. The father raised a brow in voiceless question. His oldest daughter already knew how to play the qin, taught by his own hands when she was eight. That pink hue on her face got deeper as she elaborated, “He lets Liming sit on his lap…”

“...and?” he questioned. 

“And… and that’s how he teaches her.” 

“...and?”

“And she’s done it three times in a row!!” The girl narrowed her eyes as she reached up with her other hand and pinched her father’s cheek. His daughters were ruthless with their punishment on him, so Dong Xiu did feel pain at the pressure. He grunted and grimaced, “Hey, watch it! I’m your father!”

“Aren’t you going to tell her to share!?” 

“Share? Share what? Wu Lang’s lap?” Dong Xiu teased, sticking his tongue out at his daughter. She pursed her lips together and shunted her eyes elsewhere while suppressing a soft squeal of frustration behind her tightly closed lips. The adult couldn’t help but snicker. “Minmin~! Why don’t you go ask him if he can let you on his lap?” 

“B-but--” at the thought, Dong Wenmin seemed to have lost her frustration, and it was replaced quickly with a sense of embarrassment. “I’m… I’m twelve!” 

“And?” He teased, cocking his head a little. Something akin to an understanding clicked inside of him and he rolled back by a bit to get a better look at his oldest daughter’s expression. “Wenmin. What do you think of Wu Lang?” 

“...” His daughter went silent and he stared at him for a long while, awaiting her answer. Sure enough, like her mom, she reacted with violence and pinched harder at his face. 

“Ow! ow!!” 

“That’s none of your business!” She shouted. Dong Xiu couldn’t help but find her flustered anger so adorable. Meanwhile, as she unleashed her fury on her father, she continued to rant, “So what if he’s handsome-looking and cool and silent!! What got you so curious!? Why do you care!? I just don’t want her to keep taking his time away! He has important things to do!!” 

“ _Whaaaat?_ ” He couldn’t help but find himself both amused and shocked at her outburst. “What do you mean by that? What is important for him to do if I’m up here doing nothing?” 

Dong Wenmin finally had let go of her rage on her father and pouted at him, backing up some paces as she gave him a glare, her back still toward the threshold, “Father, you don’t understand! Wu Lang works very hard!” 

_What part of that do you think I don’t know, child?!_

“Oh really?” Dong Xiu crossed his legs and folded his hands on top of his lap. He decided to play smooth as he questioned, “Wenmin, you have so much favor for Wu Lang. Even going as far as to complain to me about not being able to sit on his lap…” 

“Idiot!” She pointed her finger at her father and blushed madly--he could see the pink hue extend from her face to her neck. “What girl wouldn’t want to sit on his lap!? He’s even the talk of the school!”

Dong Xiu couldn’t help the swift change of his own expression from fearless to perplexed. 

“He’s smart, silent, reliable, and he’s such a mystery!” She rambled. It seemed that he had successfully pushed her timidness over the edge and she couldn’t help but continue her ramble, each word coming from her mouth just reminding Dong Xiu of the girl’s birth mother when she accidentally admitted her infatuation for him. “Not to mention, he has such beautiful eyes and such pretty hair. I could stare at him for hours… And he plays the qin so well too! And his mask--” 

“...” 

“--He just never seems to sleep or eat either! I know he’s supposed to be a ninja, but he’s so young… and when he spars with you outside…” She covered her face with her hands, biting her lower lip for a moment before finishing with a softer voice--almost sounding drunk off of the imagination, “It’s… kind of irresistible… especially when it’s a hot day and he takes off his…” 

“...Huh. I didn’t know that my retainer had caught your attention this much, Minmin,” Dong Xiu couldn’t help the smooth smile that had spread across his lips. He was more than aware that his oldest daughter had come to be a young woman now, but he never thought that her first sexual attraction would be to a man that was dull to these sorts of things. “For you like him this much... Is this why you don’t like any of the boys around your age?” 

She turned her eyes as she dropped her hands, her mood ruined by the question, “The boys of my age are stupid and sweaty and not cool at all.” 

“Oh? But they’re all nobles. They shouldn’t be stupid, sweaty, and not at all cool,” Dong Xiu tapped his lips and chuckled, then looked past his daughter to the darkly dressed assassin that had been standing soundlessly behind the short girl. “What do you think, Wu Lang?”

“I think master is correct,” the low voice from the red-haired assassin sounded, and instantly the brown-haired girl jolted in shock, her beryl eyes widening larger than Dong Xiu had ever seen them and her jaw-dropping from the surprise. The playful father couldn’t help but laugh at his daughter’s panic; It wasn’t exactly known when the masked man had finished his tutorings and entered the office, but Dong Xiu, who had a clear view of the doorway from where he was seated, had known that his retainer had walked in. Dong Wenmin caught on too late that her father fooled her into admitting her infatuation for her father’s servant and shrilled in humiliation and rage. 

“I’m telling mommy!!” The girl screamed in indignation as she whirled and ran out, flying past Wu Lang on her way out of the room and down the stairs. Because of her panic, she had tears in her eyes, but Dong Xiu couldn’t help but laugh in amusement. He loved his daughter and he vowed to protect his family with every inch of his being, he really did--but he loved bothering his girls more. 

The two men remained in the room, Dong Xiu quivering with laughter while Wu Lang’s eyes watched after the girl that rushed by him. Although he had been standing in the room for a while, monitoring the moment between father and daughter, it’s not like understood what made the girl speak so profoundly of him. He was nothing but a child from the street with a faulty ancestry.

“Ahaha! I’m--haha--sorry _Ah_ -Lang! I had to tease my girl first,” Dong Xiu tried his best to kill his laughter as quickly as he could, but the smile nevertheless played on his lips. He knew what the young assassin was here for and he quickly got to the point, “Is everything prepared for tonight’s affair?” 

“Yes,” Wu Lang nodded. “Among your wives, only the first lady will not be joining. She volunteered to stay behind and look after the girls.” 

“Aahh…” And that one sentence killed his mood; the smile of entertainment died from his lips and the sparkle of delight that had been in his emerald eyes dimmed. His orbs wandered to the map of renovations as he let the following stillness sink in. Dong Xiu knew what Yuan Ji was thinking, and he didn’t blame her for her decision. After all, he was a revolting, unfaithful man. “Very well. It’s probably for the best.” 

“Hm,” Wu Lang knew how much the subject hurt his master, so he shifted points quickly, “We’re expecting the Western King ahead of schedule. Then following him is the Queen of the south, then the Sovereign and the Northern King together.” 

“Very well,” Dong Xiu sighed before pushing himself to his feet. “It’s nearly dinnertime, yes?” 

“Correct.” 

“Alright. I need to eat with the family tonight, I hope you don’t mind,” he strolled over to the younger man and patted his shoulder. He knew that Wu Lang was no stranger to eating alone because of the disfigurement of his face, but Dong Xiu fancied having a meal with his best friend. He was a little saddened that Wu Lang couldn’t come to the table and eat with the rest of the family. After all, his children and wives had all received the red-haired assassin as a member of the house since the day he swore fidelity to Dong Xiu. However, he knew that as soon as the youth dropped his mask and showed his face to the people, everyone would neglect him. “I’ll eat with you tomorrow after the gala though!” 

“Assuming you aren’t busy with a woman?” Wu Lang couldn’t help but add in jokingly, rolling his eyes lightly. The words made Dong Xiu’s eyebrows lift and he abruptly halted in his step and asked, apparently out of the blue, “Hey. You’ve had experience with women before, right?” 

“If you’re asking about actually doing it: only once,” Wu Lang stared at Dong Xiu with the expression of questioning. In regards to watching, however, Wu Lang knew more than he wished he did. It was the grief of having to follow his master everywhere from the shadows to protect him from anything that might happen. “It was that time when that whore forced herself upon me.”

Of course, Dong Xiu couldn’t forget that day even if he tried. After all, he was the one that killed the woman when she believed that she could get away with it. It seemed pretentious of him seeing how he wasn't any better than the woman that had forced herself onto an unwilling person, but he didn’t care about questioning his own morality before delivering punishment. “Hm… Get some more experience then,” The eastern Marquis nodded before he continued on is way out of the room. He left his next words obscure enough so that his retainer didn’t understand them at this point in time, “I trust you enough to not have to warn you, but...if I need to beat you up, then I will! So don’t go breaking hearts!” 

Wu Lang couldn’t comprehend the meaning of the threat or why his master pretty much urged him to have more practice with women in bed. The frustrated red-head rolled his eyes before he followed his master down the flight of stairs that led to the main area of the mansion. 

“Dong Xiu, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” 

“You’ll find out in due time!” 

“Huh?” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_When I feel that hunger, I must resist it, Dong Xiu reminded himself of his mother’s ambiguous words._

_The darkness within laughed, questioning him: Resist? Why resist?_

_...Because… The green-eyed marquis choked on a reason as he stared at the beast in the eyes._

_The dark figure towered over him, its horns curling around its head and its torso large. It curled its tail--it sharp teeth flashing as its wide jaw opened. Sinister eyes stared down at its descendant as it answered for him: Because someone told you to resist? How pitiful, child._

_...Because if I let you out, thousands of people will die. Your hunger knows no limit, Fiend of Greed, Dong Xiu replied, strengthing his glare. He thought back to his wife, his children, and Wu Lang. He didn’t want any harm to come to them, so in his heart, he made this vow--this vow the other carriers of this Great Evil before him made. He cannot let this creature out, even if it caused his death._

_You know who I am? The beast turned its head slightly, the long tongue lolling out of its mouth n breathless laughter: Oh, how you’ve come to realize your bloodline so quick, little one._

_…_

_I am your instinct, and you are my mind._

_…_

_In the end, I will rule. As I have with your mother, her father, and the father before him._

  
  


_...No, Dong Xiu stood up from the darkness. He shook his head--robes, hair, and tassel floating under the water of his consciousness. He offered a smile to the beast and said, his words surprisingly gentle for the amount of animosity he felt for this Terror. We’ll see about that, my gluttonous friend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **1.)** _"Wu as in tian yuan jiang wu"_ 田园将芜  
>  **2.)** _"Lang as in er you wu he you zhi xiang, yi chu kuang lang zhi ye._ " 游无何有之鄕，以处圹埌之野。


	3. .Tenderness.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xiao-er, a fellow coworker of Shang Qinghua and maid of Zhou Bei'jiang; secret bodyguard and maid of Shang Qinghua. 47 years old (current). Partial Ice Demon and lived as a slave and brawler since her father took her away from Zhou Bei'jiang at the age of 4. Lesbian, Homoromantic-Homosexual.
> 
> Ying Yue, fellow coworker of Shang Qinghua and maid of Zhou Bei'jiang; secret bodyguard and maid of Shang Qinghua. 47 years old (Current). A demon from the Eastern country who is skilled with kicks, she was born into slavery. Lesbian, Homoromantic-Homosexual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: Slavery and prostitution**

“Is this that girl you were talking about?” 

“Yeah! It is! Trust me, she’s very good.” 

“She looks so skinny and brittle.” 

The dirtied girl looked up, her eyes stinging from the lack of sleep from the night prior. She had curled in on herself under the dilapidated, wooden boards that did nothing to prevent the rainwater from seeping through the cracks and landing on her head. She barely had time to identify the men that surrounded her when her wrist was suddenly grasped and she was pulled from her place of momentary comfort. Unfortunately, the young girl had no strength to fight back since she had spent several days awake and her stomach had been empty for such a long time. She was easily tugged into the open, her skinny legs trembling below her and she winced at the harsh grab on her wrist. She grimaced up to the man, her teal eyes squinting from the pain that shot throughout her body from the harsh grab. The cloaked man had a silver mask over the top portion of his face, but his bronze eyes stared down at the girl coldly.

“She can’t even stand properly,” his deep voice had the edge of annoyance and impatience. The skinny demon beside him chuckled nervously.

“Sir…” the lanky demon shifted his eyes from the battered girl and the tall, cloaked demon. “I assure you she’s an excellent fighter. As a veteran from the east, you should know the potential in regards to combat…” 

“How much does she normally sell for?” 

“Fourteen hundred bronze coins…” her ‘trainer’ had his usual sly smirk and anxious expression--overall reeking of creepiness. But she couldn’t say anything to that man. Instead, she kept her tired eyes on the masked man. She knew what was going to happen, and she couldn’t bring herself to feel fear or anger. Such emotions have long run dry within her.

The man with the silver mask tilted his head only by a fraction as his brown eyes swiftly turned to the ‘trainer’. Being a girl who fought daily, the teal-eyed demoness detected the instant wave of murderous intent coming off of the man. However, she was weakened and she couldn’t do much against him if he were to attack anyone. Just from having her hand suspended in air and her wrist grasped with such force, she could tell that the man was skilled and powerful.

The ‘trainer’ also detected the murderous intent and he chuckled nervously, rubbing his skinny hands together as he said, “M-my… Great king of shadows, please don’t get angry. I can lower the price for you if you wish.” 

“Oh?” the corner of the man’s lips did not tip upwards and the aura of malice didn’t fade at all with the words. However, henna eyes looked back over to the nameless girl and she saw them reflect his cruelty and disregard for life. “With how brittle, dirty, and weak she is, she is not any more expensive than one copper coin.” 

“...” the ‘trainer’ didn’t like his good being marked down and his own eyes stared at the girl with hatred. But she was met with that sort of gaze from him on the daily. After all, even if sold off to different people for one of two purposes, she’ll always return to him.

“...very well. One copper coin, your majesty,” the demon lowered his head as the cloaked man snarled in disgust. However, the powerful man lowered the girl, letting her collapse at his feet as he fished for one copper coin out of her pouch and tossed it to the man. When the ‘trainer’ caught the item, the masked demon hissed lowly, “If she ends up being a setback, I’ll come back and kill you.” 

“You won’t be disappointed, my lord,” the ‘trainer’ said, bowing his head lower than usual. It was almost as if this man was indeed a king--however it wasn’t someone that she heard of. 

Then the man moved, dragging her harshly along. She was too weak against the force, so she let out a sound of pain when her hardly dressed body was dragged along the debris dusted road, feeling the discomfort of sharp particles cutting and dragging along her bare legs and foot.

  
  


They made it to a shack of sorts in the middle of nowhere after a long period of walking. She was surprised when she was dragged inside by this ‘king’ and he immediately took to treating her wounds. When she was on the comfortable quit padding on the floor, she thought that she was going to be used the same way that other men had used her. When he lowered himself to his knees to wash off the blood on her legs, she instinctively parted her thighs and waited. She didn’t feel awkward when he didn’t at all react to her actions--let alone look as if he had been aroused. Instead, he focused on his task of cleaning and bandaging her up before he stood tall. In this small cottage, the demon girl realized how tall the man was. And when he took off his cloak, she saw how impressive he was as well. 

Brown hair cascading over his shoulders and his figure not at all displeasing to the eyes. He still had the silver mask over his eyes, shielding the upper portions of his face, but his lips and chin were flawless. Smooth olive skin with no bumps or blemishes, and just from his figure she knew that he was robust beneath the dark clothing. However, his clothing was different from what normal people wear. 

Colored black like midnight, his robes were unique and odd. It has a collar that was buttoned in the front, and those buttons traveled down to his waist, securing his outer garment close to his body and letting a train of black fabric fall to the floor. The sleeves reached to his wrist and the end section was turned inside-out, but the sleeves of the clothes fitted his arms, and she could almost see the muscle of his biceps. The man’s lower garments were black, and hard to see, from his trousers to his shoes. It almost looked as if he were wearing a dress made from the void. And the oddest thing about his robes was that they had little wrinkles and, aside from the train from his jacket, the black fabric was form-fitting.

“Tomorrow,” he said suddenly, his deep voice sending chills up the girl’s spine from fear. She clamped her legs shut and sat up the best she could. He continued slowly as he fixed the sleeves of his clothes, but his words were coated with so much malice that it felt as if he could choke the breath out of her with just talking, “If you don’t win tomorrow, I will send you back to that man in pieces.”

“Y-Yes,” she croaked, her throat scratchy from its lack of use. She didn’t want to be the victim to a man’s wrath, so she simply stood quiet for the rest of the day. She was relatively surprised when she was offered a gruel to eat (obviously, the man was not a gourmet chef). The meal didn’t have any sort of human part like all of the other ‘buyers’ would offer her--which she was grateful for since she disliked the taste of humans. However, she also knew that only the nobles and kings evolved to have a more refined taste in meals--perhaps this claim of him being a king isn’t that far off?

“May I have permission to speak?” she spoke the best she could despite the ache in her throat. The demon looked over his shoulder, staring at her expectantly. The stretch of silence was the only thing that gave her a hint that she was allowed to talk. Timidly, she questioned, “M-may I know your name?”

“Wu Chouzhu,” he said with his voice flat. “Wu as in _tian yuan jiang wu_ , Chou as in _en jiang chou bao_ , Zhu as in _sui bu rong zhu_.”

She tilted her head a bit, confused. Royals have the character of ‘Jun’ in their name. This man doesn’t have such. And she has never heard of a “Wu” family before.

The confusion must have been apparent in her face because he turned to the desk and picked up a knife to inspect it as he said, “If you’re thinking back to what the slavemaster said, don’t. I’m a pseudo king of the eastern region.”

“Pseudo king?” She couldn’t stop the question from her lips. She obviously never heard of pseudo kings before. And honestly, she didn’t expect the man to give his explanation. He continued to inspect the knife he had in his hand in silence as the young demoness’ dull eye drifted down to the wooden panels of the floor. She had her bowl of gruel in her lap, letting the warmth of the food seep into her skinny thighs.

After a moment of long silence, the man’s low voice sounded, “Tomorrow you will fight.”

So her goal is fighting right now? Very well. She’s no stranger to that. 

“Yes, master…” She lowered her eyes further, watching the steam slowly rising from the bowl in her lap. Her mind was empty as she stared, not really thinking of the unfairness of life or the troubles of being alive. As long as she had a purpose… 

  
  


The nameless girl was dragged out of her makeshift bed in the early mornings, and she was forced out of the house roughly. Wu Chouzhu didn’t bother to properly dress her; she was still in the ripped rags from yesterday--and embarrassingly enough without any underwear. Thankfully she didn’t need her legs to fight. The tall man had his long cloak on, and after a day of proper rest, the nameless girl managed to catch the designs on the cloth. What looked like mindless swirls up-close actually presented the image of wings and feathers with sparkles of gold powdered at the ends.

The short girl must have suffered a thirty-minute journey to the nearest town and dragged to the darkest and roughest parts of the town. Eventually, it became clear the man’s intention when the sudden jeers and screams filled the air and a tightly-packed crowd that had been formed around a circle came to view. The girl was not at all a stranger to illegal ring fights.

She was led by the man’s harsh grasp until he met up with the event host. Without a hint of hesitation, Wu Chouzhu said, “I’ve got my fighter. Let me enter.” 

“That thing?” the male demon scoffed as he took a throwaway glance at the tattered slave girl. It was obvious that he tried to stifle a laugh as he said, “You really don’t want the money then.” 

“I trust her,” the man’s voice was deadpanned, but even if the word had no emotion, the girl felt surprised. Her eyes widened a bit as she allowed the situation to process in her head while the event host shrugged and filled out the paperwork to allow them to enter.

A master? Trusting her? That has never happened. 

“Very well. You will be fighting next round, newbie,” the man scoffed. Wu Chouzhu didn’t seem fazed or worried, he gave a ‘humph’ before harshly grasping the girl’s arm and dragging her with him to one side of the ring. 

The girl’s teal eyes glanced inside the ring, observing the bloodstains that had painted the dirt floor and the erected sides. Within the pit, two shirtless, burly men were clawing at each other's necks, exchanging blows like wild animals as the crowd cheered and encouraged the brutal fight. The girl kept her eye on the battle, observing the skills (or lack thereof) of her future opponents, not at all disturbed by the violence.

“Girl,” Wu Chouzhu’s voice sounded after a while. He was equally watching the show before them, knowing who would win and who would lose. Her attention was caught, but she didn’t move her eyes to her master--busy observing. He continued, “I’m not cruel. You can forfeit if you feel outmatched. However, if you do that, I will remind you that after we leave the town I will kill you.” 

“Okay,” she hummed, nodding her head at his words. Threats were normal to her, the same with beatings and less favorable situations. She had grown numb to them all. 

With a punch that rang a terrible and dull crack in the air, a mindless, thick-skinned demon won the fight by shattering his opponent’s jaw and knocking the unfortunate fellow off his feet. Upon his victory, the gargantuan man threw his head back and roared louder than the sudden shrieks and delight of the mob. Everyone except for the nameless demon girl and Wu Chouzhu screamed and chanted for more fights. 

“Very well! Very well!” The event host had a wicked grin on his lips as he shimmied his way up to his spot on the podium. He swung his arm around widely as he gathered the attention of the crowd that snarled and grinned maliciously for the next victim to their lust for battle. Among the hungry crowd, Wu Chouzhu looked like a nobleman with his head held high and his cloaked figure immobile even though the masse around him jumped with excitement. The event holder continued, his voice becoming more and more enthusiastic as he announced the next victim to his multi-fight winner, “Next up we have a lonely fighter who can pack a punch! She may look fragile but don’t let her appearance fool you! Enter, _Jian_!”

At the last word, the man beside her pushed her with such force that the nameless girl stumbled forward, catching herself against the side of the erected wall of the fighting ring. However, although her hands clasped around the top of the wall, it gave way and she found herself stumbling into the sandy pit. Immediately, the screams from the crowd around became a low roar, displeased at her appearance, and some of these faceless beings shouting, “You’re going to get crushed!!”

“A little girl?” the large, blood-covered, sweat-drenched demon man in front of her laughed, his eyes becoming slits as his low and deep voice rumbled through the girl’s chest. Her clear, beryl eyes glanced up to the man, observing--her once surprised expression fading as it became cold and calculated. She slowly detached herself from clinging onto the entry door and walked calmly further into the pit, her eyes never leaving her opponent. He didn’t seem to realize that she had changed mentalities and he continued to laugh, “You’re so skinny! I could break you and make you my toothpick!!” 

She slowly situated herself in front of him, not at all showing any signs of being prepared for battle as the gargantuan man. She studied his form and waited for the event host to drop the red flag to signal their battle. 

_“Begin!”_

Immediately, the man took a large step forward and swung his arm around, aiming his closed fist at the small woman from the left side. Instinctively, the girl slid her feet apart, widening her stance by a bit to have a more secure standing, then she raised her left arm up and hooked the hand around her head and tensed tightly. Not a second after she raised her defense, the punch of the other met her arm--the force causing her to skid a bit. However, she was still in a good position, aligned perfectly with the man’s center. Her instinct of fighting took over here and she pivoted her hips slightly, her right arm swinging up from below. Her boney elbow stuck at the man’s chest, pushing him back a bit. Taking advantage of the other’s stun, she struck at his ribs, hearing a satisfying crack as her powerful fist made contact. He grunted and doubled over from the pain, lowering his stance, and the girl didn’t have mercy. She took the man’s head with both of her hands and crushed his face with her knee repeatedly. On the fourth blow, her leg was seized and she was knocked off her feet.

She didn’t make a sound when the man was over her. Instead, she quickly covered her face with her arms, bracing them against the series of blows from the other’s heavy fists. She groaned at the pain, but she counted the pacing of the punches against her face. At the slightest window, she struck out her dominant hand and landed a solid punch to the assaulter's face, hearing a satisfying crack of his nose bleeding. He recoiled with a scream, and she pushed herself up, sliding her dominant hand from a punch to an elbow to the face and successfully pushing him off. Then din around them had been muffled in her ears since the beginning of the fight, so she didn’t bother to pay attention. 

She was trained to kill, and she will do just that. 

As he had been rolled to the side while clutching his bloody face in agony, she gathered her strength into her fist as she rolled on top of him. Her face remained apathetic as she landed a powerful blow to his face, her own demonic energy swirling in a hue of pink as it exploded when her punch made contact. Almost as if the man’s hands weren’t there, there was another disgustingly loud crack in the air and the man went limp below her. 

With her performance done, she pushed herself to her feet, her dull teal eyes staring down at the lifeless corpse. The hands of the once-alive fighter had fallen away, revealing a bloody face that seemed caved in by a bit--his eyes wide from shock and lusterless.

Around the bit, the once roused and bloodthirsty crowd had gone silent. Patrons of the event had their mouths hung open in surprise by the sudden turn of events and the mercilessness of the girl in front of them. She didn’t bother to raise her head, her sights only on the man who she had killed, but she held no sympathy or remorse in her eyes. It took a while for the event holder to snap out of his stupor of his best competitor being bested so swiftly. With a bit of reluctance, he announced with a bit of a shake in his voice, “...I… We have a new winner…! Jian has bested Cai Fang! Our new champion everyone!”

Lesser demons had no sense of loyalty, so the crowd erupted into cheers and roars. As long as they were fed blood, they didn’t care about who was the new champion of the ring. The nameless girl raised her eyes to look at her new master. 

The masked man had the same expression that she had seen in the past few hours; his lips not at all moving in a smile nor a frown, his dark hood casting a deep shadow across his eyes that his eyes were not at all visible to her from this distance. While the crowd was jumping and screaming in joy, Wu Chouzhu took a step back, vanishing into wisps of black shadows before her eyes; in an instant, he was gone. Even though there had been no words exchanged prior to this, she knew the command. This was not her first time competing in illegal fighting rings. 

  
  


She entered the room quietly, her fists and arms bandaged and treated for their wounds of the earlier fight. The teal-eyed girl didn’t at all feel weakened or vulnerable; she knew what her uses were and she walked with her back straight. Before her in the room of the shady building that they were in, her master was talking with the event master of the fight, negotiating payments. 

“You can have a thousand bronze,” the event master said as he handed a bag to the tall and darkly dressed demon. Wu Chouzhu frowned, his silver mask glimmering from the candlelight.

“No. My fighter won fairly. I demand more.” 

“For what?” The short man shrugged as he held in his hand paper money, counting the thousands in his hands as he said offhandedly, “I think that’s enough for you.”

“This,” Wu Chouzhu’s voice became louder, his rage clear as he picked up the bag of bronze coins and slammed them against the tabletop--the unpleasant, piercingly loud sound rang in their ears as he continued, his voice nearly evolving into a roar as he spoke, “is not enough to feed my child and my mother for the entire week!” 

“What part of you think that I care?” the lesser demon seethed, glaring up at the man with a dull look. Demons had no sympathy for one another, so the ruthlessness of the other’s words was not at all surprising. In fact, to the nameless girl, it was quite normal. The masked man and the small girl kept their eye on the other as he continued to talk, “That’s the amount your little girl here won. The rest is for me from my other fighters.” 

Wu Chouzhu was not happy at this, and his expression darkened. Even with the hood over his head, the slave saw the anger bellowing in those henna eyes from the casted shadow over his expression. However, the demon did not act on his anger. Although his balled-up hands trembled from ire at his sides, he silently accepted his unfair treatment and reached out to grab the bag of bronze. When his pale lips parted and he spoke, the girl found that his raging yell had returned to its previous tonelessness, “...Tomorrow, we will enter again.” 

“Very well then,” The greedy man gruffed, flicking his hand at the other to signal the two to leave. Normal kings wouldn’t have allowed such behavior towards them, but that couldn’t be said for pseudo kings apparently. Wu Chouzhu made no polite gesture to signal his departure, but instead, he spun on his heel and roughly snagged the girl by her wrist. Her teal eyes widened slightly as she was mercilessly dragged behind Wu Chouzhu as he walked briskly out of the building.

When the duo made it back to the modest cabin that they had no choice but to call “home” for the meantime, the nameless girl sat at her sleeping area, tucked her knees to her chest and hugged herself as she asked, “Master, why didn’t you take it by force?” At her question, the black-caped man froze as he stood in front of the table once again. She can see the trace of a frown etched firmly onto his face as he pulled back his hood and turned his head slightly in her direction. His henna eyes had no sort of warmth as he spoke, “Murdering to steal is past me now.” 

“I… mean no offense,” the young girl dropped her eyes, avoiding his gaze just in case she had accidentally invoked his wrath. In attempts to give more content to her question, she offered, “It’s just… you mentioned your son and mother…”

“My personal life is none of your business,” his voice had gained a rigid edge to it--it felt as if she was testing a wolf’s patience and had barely managed to get the beast to curl its lips in warning. It was at that moment when he disrobed himself from his outer garment, flinging the black cloak onto the back of a wooden chair before taking his seat. The unsmiling man leveled his glare at the nameless girl, causing her to shiver and reach for her thin bedcovers in attempts to put a shield between him and her. As she inched the cloth over her shoulders, he spoke again, “...Thinking about it, I haven’t seen them in a while.” 

“...” The girl’s teal eyes uneasily glanced at him. She realized at that moment that his hateful glare at her actually was him spacing out in thought. Suppressing the tremors of anxiety that ran within her body at the malicious, absentminded glare, the nameless girl timidly questioned, “When… was the last time you saw them?”

There was a moment of silence that followed after the words had fallen. The two held gazes before Wu Chouzhu turned his eyes away first. Those brown eyes drifted down towards the lower left of his vision and he muttered emptily, “I don’t remember.” 

The girl didn’t hold sympathy for the man. As the tall and mysterious false king mused over his memories, the demon girl nodded in acknowledgment before laying down on the mattress. He didn’t need to caution her about her task for the next day; she already knew what her duty was.

  
  
  
  


Her heavy fist slammed into the unsightly demon’s face; the swirl of pink, demonic energy dancing up her arm as a satisfying, disgusting crack rang sharply in her ears--sounding so much louder than the roar of the bloodthirsty crowd. The man fell backward, blood spilling from his broken nostrils and busted lip. He was still breathing when he fell on his back onto the blood-covered ground. The nameless girl, who had assumed the fighter name of Jian, was standing in position as she stared down at the man. Despite the crowd begging for her to end the man’s life, she didn’t move from her position, both feet planted firmly and her bright eyes unwavering. She didn’t know sympathy, but she also didn’t blindly follow the mindless encouragements of others. 

It didn’t take long for some other demon kin to rush in and drag the man out. “Jian” relaxed her position, not at all showing any sort of pain from her reddened knuckles. As she straightened her back and raised her head. Her blue-green eyes met with the cloaked false king. Wu Chouzhu continued to have his nonchalant expression even though this was Jian’s fifth win undefeated. Already, the girl’s win streak had earned them a large win pool already. Estimating the calculations of what percentage cut that the event master will take for himself and what Wu Chouzhu will end up with, the sum was enough to supply a family of three for a month or two. Although she had an ache on her hands, and her limbs trembled from overuse, she stared unwaveringly at the event master, awaiting her next opponent. 

“Our new undefeated champion, Jian!” The master of ceremony’s booming voice cut through the hyped screams of the crowd. Even as he spoke, the excited mob couldn’t contain themselves from yelling out in excitement--their bloodlust taking over them with such vigor that they were nothing but faceless masses that drooled as they cheered. “And now enter another fighter from the streets! Don’t get on her bad side! Enter, _Gim_!”

From where they dragged out the defeated man, a tall woman entered. The nameless girl with teal eyes raised her brows as she observed her opponent. 

The woman that stepped onto the arena had long, black hair that had been tied into a loose, low ponytail. Maroon eyes locked onto her like a predator staring down at an opponent. Just from quickly glancing at the woman’s frame, the nameless girl could gather that the woman before her had also come from a very unfavorable background--her large breasts poorly covered with colorless rags that had small holes everywhere as if moths took to eating at the fabric. Unlike the teal eyed slave, however, this woman had white pants under her shirt. As well, the woman did not harbor any trace of childish innocence that the nameless demoness had. With lidded, almond eyes and holding her chin higher just slightly, the other demon woman gave “Jian” the impression of being superior. 

The small chested woman frowned, shifting her hips as she readied her fists in front of her. Almost at the same time, the woman with maroon eyes shifted as well, her fists at her sides as her legs spread in preparation. 

Both of the females had locked eyes, unmoving as the din around them became louder. The event master raised his hand for a few seconds to prepare the match, then swung it downward while yelling, “ _FIGHT!!_ ” 

Immediately, Jian took initiative. Dashing forward, she threw a punch to the other’s chest. However, the teal-eyed champion didn’t expect the blow to be parried; the other woman tilted her body back, her leg coming up to meet the other’s strong fist. An explosion of purple and pink energy swept the entire place, causing a zephyr to blow through the area. Stunned slightly by the sudden act, Jian paused, her cracked lips parting as she stared at the other woman in slight shock. 

“Gim” didn’t hesitate, however. Immediately after dealing with the first kick, after successfully stopping the attack, she pulled back her leg before extending it again in rapid succession. Jian was dealt with three powerful blows to her thigh, stomach, and chest. Jian staggered back, coughing as her eyes dropped to the woman’s long legs. 

It was at that moment that she realized that she was fighting against an opponent that mastered kicks, unlike all of the other mindless battles where the opponents swung wildly and worked uncoordinatedly. 

“Jian” frowned as she lifted her eyes to glare at the woman who carefully lowered her leg. The balance of the woman was something to be awed by as she did not tremble or shake uneasily from standing on one leg for a while. Even with her leg lowered, it was an inch shy from the dirt floor. Both ladies didn’t make a sound as they glowered at each other. Between them, a moment of stillness and calculation followed. The two women blocked out the sounds of hungry carnage as they thought about strategies to use on one another in order to get the upper hand in the battle. 

It was only when Gim’s foot touched the dirt of the ground did Jian move. She dashed forward again and reattempted a powerful punch. As expected, it was parried by the other leg, but Jian didn’t stop in surprise. Instead, a second before her fist landed, she opened her palm and gripped the straight portion of the woman’s leg. Gim was surprised at the sudden change, and Jian stilled her in place by gripping the woman’s leg with both hands. Just as she lifted her own foot to slam against the taller woman’s kneecap of the other appendage, Gim collapsed. The woman was much more flexible than she first thought as Gim bent her knee and grabbed Jian’s approaching heel. Unlike Gim, Jian was not at all adept with her legs and she lost balance. 

“Ah!” Jian’s eyes widened as she fell, losing her grip on the other’s leg as she tumbled. She had not been prepared when the leg that she was gripping landed on her shoulder, pressing down with such viciousness that it immediately started to bruise. She was pinned against the floor, the other woman towering over her with those lightless, dark eyes staring down at her. The girl bared her teeth--this was the first time that she had been knocked down. 

She secured a grip around the ankle that pinned her down, her tea-eyes flashing a malevolent light as she held the intense glare. The woman above her rose a brow, her thin lips moving as she spoke, “You’ve fought tirelessly for hours. Just give up.” 

The woman’s voice was held low, but it held a flirty undertone to it, and it stirred a certain emotion within Jian. For a second, she felt hollowed and the only thing that grounded her was the hard pounding in her chest. Instantly, she read the emotion going through her as _“insulted”_. 

With a short shout, the girl forcefully pulled the foot on her shoulder away, using her own legs to kick at the woman’s inner thigh. The woman was quick though, using one hand to block the attack as she tilted her body and rolled away. Jian rushed to her feet, her eyes glaring at the woman that dared to speak to her so arrogantly. Both the women unfalteringly glared at each other, then slowly took their stance of battle. 

It seems that the nameless woman had found her match. 

  
  
  
  


The robust sound of metal rang in the otherwise silent room, causing the nameless girl to flinch. Due to the intense fight against the other woman, her face had become bloody and her entire body covered in bruises. She collapsed on the floor, her legs too tired to carry her anymore. The sound of her falling did not make anyone flinch or look at her in worry--instead, Wu Chouzhu’s face was deadpanned as he collected his prize. The nameless girl wheezed, feeling a sharp pain in her side from a broken rib. 

Yet, she knew she didn’t have a place to ask for his help.

“Your girl did pretty well out there,” The event master at the desk glanced carelessly at the collapsed demoness. The praise was somewhat empty--giving hints of another motive that he wished to voice. Wu Chouzhu didn’t have the patience to act flattered. His hazel eyes glanced at the man with a hard glare and he spoke, “Get to the point.” 

“I was wondering if I can buy her off of you,” the corner of the man’s lips curved upwards, revealing no good intentions behind the words. She kept silent, knowing that she had failed her master.

It was the last fight--the woman--that did her in. She knew that the formidable man in front of her didn’t care to keep her alive. Immediately after losing, she was nothing in his eyes.

“How much?” Wu Chouzhu had no compassion for other people’s lives, so he was more than happy to sell off the girl. Besides, her being used to someone else should cover his debt to her. If it were any other person, he would have killed them the moment they failed his expectations.

The man before him stroked his chin before saying, “I’ll give you eight silver _yuanbao_ for her.” 

Wu Chouzhu’s eyes widened by a fraction. Yuanbao were not things that were handed to commoners. Of course, being a warrior of the eastern territories, the man knew how valuable these things were and how much they can be converted for. It could not only support him for several years, but it could support his family as well. 

Without turning his head, he glanced towards the collapsed girl. The look itself was mysterious and cold, but the girl couldn’t bring her head up to glance at him. He frowned deeply before nodding. The Event Master grinned happily as he reached down to a hidden compartment in the building. He pulled the panel back and fished out a large bag. When he straightened his knees and placed the bag on the table, he pried it open with a swift movement and spilled out eight silver boat-shaped objects. With a grin, he handed them to the masked man.

“Here you are! Thank you.” 

“Humph,” the cloaked man took the eight metal objects, stuffing each one into the bag he won earlier. When all of his belongings were with him, he turned on the heel of his boot and walked out of the building, the steady and firm thumps of his footsteps fading the further he got from the group. When the man was out of the building and far from sight, the wicked man lazily trailed his eyes to the collapsed woman, a devilish grin spreading onto his lips. He looked over her battered body carelessly before laughing. “You’re a pretty good fighter, I must admit,” he spoke slowly to the woman. “Unfortunately, we have no use for women like you.”

She heard the words clearly. She sucked in a mouthful of air and held it. She understood, however. This world was too cruel for women fighters.

At most, they were only useful as cheap baby makers for men who needed heirs.

Just as the Event Master was about to walk over to the beaten woman and take her to god-knows-where, another man walked in with another woman in his grasp. He tossed the demoness forcefully to the floor, grumbling with displeasure, “Her master wasn’t anywhere to be found. She’s free, boss.” The large-chested woman didn’t scream out when she fell. Instead, she was silent, as if knowing and accepting what will happen.

It turned out, it wasn’t only “Jian” that knew this treatment all too well.

“Oh, splendid!” the twisted man laughed, clapping his hands together as he looked down at both of the females. 

  
  
  
  
  


She was laying on the bed, exhausted and aching from how roughly the man was using her. Between her legs, she felt the disgusting ooze that flowed from within her. She couldn’t help but curl her lips in disgust at the feeling. 

She hated having a man in her. She hated the feeling of that thing entering and withdrawing from her. She hated how smug the men looked after they had their release and left her with their seed planted inside. None of it was going to take root, but it’s not like she will openly admit that to anyone. If she did admit that her womb was unable to hold children, she would most likely be slaughtered for her inability to do what women should do. Everything about men disgusts her. 

“What a good little slut,” the naked man laughed, his large hand falling to her hip and giving it a firm pat. She had a hard time resisting the urge to shoot up and punch him in his face. After giving her exposed hip a pat, he pulled away and got dressed, then left the room. She could hear the sound of the door opening and shutting, then the muffled voice of her new owner and the man chatting. She couldn’t make out the words, and she frankly didn’t want to know what they were talking about. She closed her eyes and tried to rest. 

It has not been an hour since she closed her eyes when the door creaked open again. The nameless woman pretended to be asleep when she heard someone quietly walk in, settle on the floor in front of her, and gently touch her face with something damp and warm. Slightly annoyed, the girl opened one teal eye, glancing at maroon eyes that held no expression. It was that woman that did her in that day. The day that they were both given to that fucked up man to become prostitutes, this lady always came in to clean her up. It annoyed the teal-eyed woman to death, but every time she would be too exhausted and disgusted at the mess left on her after the ordeal with the men to fight against her rival’s tenderness. If it weren’t for her, she wouldn’t have ended up in this hell.

The almond eye analyzed the girl on the bed as she continued to dab the damp rag along the naked woman’s skin, trailing it down from her cheek to her neck, then to her shoulders. The feeling of the rag paused briefly before it continued on to wipe down the small breasts. 

“Why do you keep doing this?” the teal-eyed woman finally asked. It’s been two weeks since they were put in this position. She wasn’t an idiot; she knew that this “Gim” also was used by men. However, she seems to always make time to come and wash her.

“...” the woman didn’t respond. She pulled the cloth away from the other’s naked body to dunk it into the small bucket of water that she had brought along, ringed the excess water out of the cloth, and continued to wash down the woman. This time, she turned her attention to the sticky mess between the woman’s thighs. As she gingerly wiped her down, “Gim” asked, “Is your real name ‘Jian’?”

The teal-eyed girl hissed at the feeling of her womanhood being brushed against, but she answered, “No. I have no name.”

“I see. My real name is Ying Yue,” she introduced herself finally. She finished wiping down the sticky mess between the thinner woman’s legs and returned the rag to the bucket. “Do you know what the ‘Jian’ is?”

“No,” the girl rolled her shoulders, brushing off the ache in her bones as she lifted herself up from the bed. She swung her legs off the side of the bed. Ying Yue still knelt there, her sizable chest nearly touching the boney knees. Frankly, she didn’t care what a “Jian” was--and it showed on her expressionless face. The other woman seemed to realize this and nodded. 

“Nevermind then.” 

“Okay.” 

Ying Yue helped the nameless girl dress into the clothes that were prepared beforehand, then they exited the room together. Standing next to the elegant woman, the girl with teal eyes felt smaller than her actual height, only reaching to just about the height of the other woman’s shoulder. Well, she wasn’t that all to begin with, but she was a bit shorter than average for a woman her age when standing tall. With a heavy sigh and closing the door behind them, Ying Yue glanced over to the woman and offered, “Do you want to eat?”

“...” Honestly, she was a little hungry. They didn’t have the right to go take a bath every day, so she had to deal with the feeling of being used even though Ying Yue was kind enough to wipe the disgusting stickiness from her body. Passing a quick glance at the taller woman, she nodded and the two left to grab something small to eat. Since they were not ‘high-class’, they could only grab the leftovers that were already in the building’s dumpster. Luckily, the higher status women didn’t eat much, so the remains were sometimes untouched. Any of the lower women had to sneak in and grab their snacks or else they would face a punishment of thirteen disciplinary lashes. Taking advantage of the fact that their current master had been talking to the latest client about something business-related, the two ladies quickly picked out their snacks and hid them in the pockets of their long sleeves before departing to their rooms. Their rooms were different than the rooms used for clients. It was a shared dorm of up to four ladies in one room.

Ying Yue sat on the stone bed as she bit into her apple and the teal-eyed girl sat next to her, brushing off the peach she pulled from her sleeve. A moment of silence dragged between them before Ying Yue offered, “I should give you a name.” 

“Why?” The girl huffed. Names came and went. No one would remember her anyways. 

“...Because I want to,” dark eyes glanced over to the smaller girl and she inspected her carefully as she said, “You’re small, but you seem very sad. How about ‘Xiao-er’?”

The girl now dubbed ‘Xiao-er’ looked up at Ying Yue and frowned, brightly-colored eyes squinting up at the other woman with a slight suspicion in them. Ying Yue saw this and the corner of her mouth twitched. “Xiao as in _huo qi xiao qiang_.” 

“And _-er_? You calling me dumb?” ‘Xiao-er’ scoffed, bumping the other woman’s arm with her elbow. The little quip made Ying Yue chuckle, but she replied with a soft voice, “Only if you see it that way. You will be my dummy then.” 

“...” For some reason, Xiao-er felt her chest go warm at the gentle utterance, but she also felt a wave of indignation. How dare… 

  
  
  


The next day had been a surprise to Xiao-er and Ying Yue. A handful of women had been forced to get up during ungodly hours and forced out into the cold, morning air. This group included the two demonesses, who joined hands to not part far from each other during the confusing ordeal. The group of ladies had been led by one of the Master’s servants, and he was impatient with them. He didn’t even allow them to grab any sort of footwear when they were rounded up and standing outside in front of a busy crowd. Immediately, the man spoke up loudly, “Esteemed persons! Please pick a lady to buy! These slaves can help with any sort of task you have for them!” 

The man’s yelling had gained a few attractions, some who bought the women had greedy and wicked looks in their eyes. Xiao-er shuffled closer to Ying Yue. Although they just started speaking recently, out of all the ladies that Xiao-er had seen during her two-weeks at the underground brothel, she was only shown kindness from Ying Yue. Naturally, she did not want to part from her even though it might be inevitable.

Heavy footsteps sounded, and someone towered over to the two ladies. Xiao-er had her sights on the ground, reluctant to look up at anyone who would be her potential buyer.

“...How much for both of them?” the deep voice asked. The man sounded void of any wickedness and any other emotion that she could immediately recognize. The master’s servant ran up the calculations and gave him the price. Although it was a little high, the man wordlessly offered the money to the guy and gained ownership of the two ladies--Xiao-er and Ying Yue. After handing the pouch over to the guy, he commanded, “Follow me.” 

“Yessir,” the two replied in unison. When the dark boots walked, the two followed with their heads bowed but their hands still joined. The black and blue-robed figure led them between two large buildings--then the entire world went black. Xiao-er was startled--the white, faint noise in the background had been cut off and there was nothingness. 

But just as swiftly as the darkness had come, it was ripped away. The back strips wriggled as they slipped back under the soles of the boots belonging to the man in front of them. Around them, brilliant ice and the familiar cold--but it didn’t affect the teal-eyed girl. That’s when Xiao-er finally looked up at her new owner. 

The man turned around, his features cold and sharp and dressed in black and blue royal garment with fur draped over his shoulders. Piercing blue eyes with pupils slit vertically. Between his brows sat a sigil that Xiao-er immediately recognized. In fact, she recognized the entire face, but her memories of it were a small boy with bright eyes and a beautiful, wide smile. Immediately, she inhaled sharply, startled. 

“Y-you’re…” 

“Do you remember?” His lips didn’t tilt upwards but his brows narrowed sharply. Ying Yue was confused, looking over at the woman that held her hand. Then she shivered, unused to the sudden, bitter cold that surrounded them. Sensing her shiver, Xiao-er squeezed the other’s warm hand, sighing out her demonic power as she did so. Slowly, Ying Yue did not shiver anymore as she felt the biting cold slowly leave her.

“...You’re an ice demon?” Ying Yue questioned in an astonished whisper.

Xiao-er bit her lip nervously, replying, “Partial.” Then she looked around the familiar scene, realizing that they were in a small bedroom made of ice, furnished lightly with necessities; a bed at the side, a cabinet, a wardrobe, a table, and a large pelt on the floor. Within the ice castle, there were rooms set out specifically for the servants who took to serving the king. This specific room Xiao-er remembered from her long-ago childhood. Looking at the bed, she saw her beloved doll. Immediately, those bright eyes sparkled. 

“Ah! She’s still here!” Xiao-er laughed, nodded as she did so. Then she turned her attention back to the man in front of her, asking, “Crowned prince Mobei, why did you bring me back?” 

“...” The darkly dressed man sighed deeply and silently. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and said, “I am the king now.” 

Xiao-er jolted, her eyes widening in shock at the news. Her last memory had been when the crowned prince returned from the human realm with cuts and bruises all over his body, and the king was fiercely scolding the second prince, the king’s younger brother. That night, her father--a follower of Linguang Jun and long-time attendant to the royal family--took her away and the rest of her memories after that had become muddy and dark. Immediately, she remembered her manners and fell to her knees with a loud sound of her skinny frame falling, releasing Ying Yue’s hand and bent over deeply--her forehead pressed against the cold ice of the floor as she addressed, “M-Majesty…!” 

There was a second of silence before the other woman gently fell to her knees and bowed to the Ice King. She also greeted the royal with “Your majesty” before the king ordered them to stand. When the two demonesses rose, the king leaned against the table behind him and said, “You should already know the rules. Tomorrow you both will undergo training. You guys are hired to be assistants to the Duke of Zhou Bei’jiang.” 

Ying Yue had no expression on her face as she processed the information, but Xiao-er couldn’t help the ever so slight furrowing of her brow as she thought. She never heard of there being a duke. Before she could question, Mobei Jun continued, “You are not to tell him or anyone else that he is the Duke.” 

“Y-yes, your majesty,” the two ladies said, baffled but unable to bring themselves to ask why. Satisfied with their obedience, he looked over at Ying Yue. A slight spark of amusement fluttered in those blue eyes but he did not voice out his thoughts. After a stretch of silence, he pushed himself off the furniture.

“I will be absent looking for the man. During my absence, you will train under Ming Cheng,” Mobei Jun spoke as he walked towards the door. There was a creek as the panel opened, then he said, “Welcome back home.” Then he left. 

Xiao-er inhaled deeply, a slight smile floating onto her lips. Ying Yue saw this and took an interest and asked, “So this is your home?” 

“It had been. A very long time ago,” Xiao-er answered. She walked towards the bed and crawled on it, picking up the doll and looking it over with tender eyes. Ying Yue joined her on the bed, sitting comfortably. Then the smaller woman continued, “My father was an ice demon servant close to the royal family. He and my mother met during a trip and they married. I was born here in the Ice Castle some days after the crowned prince was born… I mean, his majesty. My mother became his wet nurse.” 

She sighed deeply, looking around. She did feel a sense of nostalgia looking back at the old room her parents kept her in. She remembered being asked to play with the then-crowned prince who had been upset to the point of tears when his uncle left on a voyage. They weren’t close childhood playmates, but they were aware of each other. Silently the girl mused, “I’m surprised he remembers me.” 

Unknown to Xiao-er, Ying Yue’s curious look had faded. Those darkly colored eyes narrowed as a frown made its way onto her lips. If she were to look at the large-chested woman, Xiao-er would have been spooked by the displeased expression.

Ying Yue didn’t know that Xiao-er didn’t have an intimate familiarity or interest with the royal man.

Seeing how the room had only one bed, the two ladies discarded their disgusting robes and dressed in some of the spare light sleeping garments that they pulled from the wardrobes. Then they crawled under the covers of the bed and fell asleep. 

  
  


When Xiao-er was waking up the next day, she nuzzled into the warm softness that was against her face. She sighed, feeling comfortable and almost loving the feeling of that softness against her skin. When she pressed her face against it further, a faraway, intoxicated moan sounded above her, and the thigh between her legs shifted, brushing up against her groin. 

That’s when Xiao-er jolted awake.

She pushed her body up and away from the other woman’s with an undignified screech, her face blushed as she stared down at the sight below her. Ying Yue’s robe was opened obscenely, her large breasts flushed and pancaked and surprisingly so tempting to touch. The large window of the robe being opened nearly teased showing the perked nipples. Ying Yue was already awake, but her face was profoundly blushed and she gazed up at Xiao-er as if expecting her to continue.

Xiao-er scrambled off the bed, her legs surprisingly weak as she stumbled. “I’m sorry!!” 

“It’s--” before Ying Yue could say that she didn’t find offense to the action, Xiao-er screeched, and the entire room rumbled at her fall. She fell hard on her bum and hissed at the pain that traveled up her spine. Ying Yue was quick to jump off the bed, fixing her robes as she approached to help the other woman to her feet. “Xiao-er! Xiao-er, you really are a dummy!” Although her words were that of ridicule, the soft way that she said it had let the listener know that she meant the words in an endearing way. Xiao-er allowed herself to be helped onto her feet and she groaned, “I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” 

“It’s fine,” Ying Yue laughed, taking it upon herself to dust off the smaller woman. As she spoke, Xiao-er looked at her face, seeing that faint blush still there on her cheeks. Being a woman herself, she knew that the other was aroused. Timidly, Xiao-er stammered, “I... Uh… Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that… your chest…” 

“Yeah, it’s really sensitive,” Ying Yue emphasized the point by rubbing one of her breasts. She flashed a grin at the other woman and flirted, “You seemed to be having fun with them, so I didn’t want to wake you up. If you had gone a little longer, I probably would have climaxed. Maybe we should see how hard I could cum with just you rubbing on my boobs, hm?” 

Xiao-er blushed deeply, the mental image accompanying the words made her feel hot. 

The two dressed in appropriate attire, Xiao-er fitting herself in a dress with the faint color of pink and Ying Yue picking up one of the white maids dresses with small accents of purple. After they readied themselves, they hurried out of the room to look for this Ming Cheng person that the king told them about the night prior. 

They found Ming Cheng outside of the castle with the new recruits of Zhou Bei’jiang’s army, and he looked both of the ladies over while scratching the stubble on his face. Behind him, the shouts of young men going through the drills sounded. The man looked bored as he lazily asked, “So you’re the two, eh?” Xiao-er answered with a nod as the lady next to her impatiently placed her hands at her hips. Ming Cheng shrugged as he stood up from his seat, sighing as he hung one of his arms over the weapon strapped at his side. “The Duke’s soon-to-be undercover bodyguards.” 

Both Xiao-er and Ying Yue were shocked at this statement. Their expressions must have translated their bafflement because Ming Cheng started to laugh, explaining, “Oh yeah, you guys didn’t know? That king always leaves out details. I’m going to teach you guys how to fight, and with that, you’re to protect the Duke.” 

“Why?” Ying Yue was the first to question, her shocked expression returning to the coldness that she usually showed. Xiao-er also eased her expression, listening with keen ears. Ming Cheng shrugged before he gestured for them to follow him into the tent. 

When inside the private tent, the general took a seat and spoke lazily, “The Duke of Zhou Bei’jiang is a human practitioner.”

“A human?” Ying Yue frowned and furrowed her brows. Of course, it was no secret that the demon realm and the human realm did not get along. Even a mention of a human can make a demon either terrified or justifiably angry. Immediately, the two ladies disagreed with this in their hearts. They would be a traitor to demonkind if they served a human. 

Ming Cheng seemed to pick up their displeasure at the news, so he said, “The human has been a servant of the king for roughly twenty years already. He proved his loyalty some weeks ago by protecting the king from the prince.” 

“Did he… get granted the title of Duke?” Xiao-er couldn’t help but ask. After all, from the context of the words, she assumed that this human had been a servant. To her question, the demon nodded and leaned back in his seat. “I’ve worked with him a few times. He’s not a bad person. When he gets found by our king, he will naturally be dragged back to Zhou Bei’jiang and you guys will have the chance to meet him.” 

Both of the ladies kept sour expressions, almost doubting his words. Then Xiao-er spoke up again, her voice a bit quieter, “But the King has a history with those monsters…”

“..” Ming Cheng knew what she was talking about, but he sighed and nodded, crossing his arms over his chest briefly as he spoke carefully, “Yes… however, you will understand when you see him.” Then he stood to his feet and clapped his hands together. The man winked at the two ladies and said, “Well, time for your training. From what I can tell, you both have experience in fighting, so we’ll start with…” 

  
  
  
  
  


A month had passed and just as Ming Cheng predicted, the man they heard about was dragged back to Zhou Bei’jiang by the king. His leg had been broken, so a team of veiled medics had to come and tend to him. This team of medics also included Ying Yue, who had a light history with first aid. Although she was nowhere near as efficient as the Tai-yi, she helped with the wounds that peppered the human’s body. 

“Ow, ow!” the brown-haired human whined, wincing as his broken leg was put in firm straps and bandaged. The Tai-Yi was ranting under his breath about how stupidly brutal Linguang Jun was and scrambling to pack up his equipment. Mobei Jun stood at the side, not minding the royal healer’s rambles as he gazed at the human with softened eyes. Xiao-er almost jumped out of her skin when she saw that ‘happy’ look on the king’s face. It wasn’t as joyful as the little boy who loved his uncle so dearly that she remembered so vividly, but it came close. In fact, she thought she was disgracing her king when she thought that his admiration and affection had shifted from his uncle to this human that whined and whimpered on the white bed. 

“Why does he have to be so mean?” the man named Shang Qinghua faked an expression of crying as he stared at his busted kneecap, ‘sobbing’ a _“huhu”_ at the end of his sentence as he slumped. The expression was--dare she say--adorkable. 

“The Tai-Yi would never be as mean as Linguang,” Ying Yue answered him, sighing as she tidied her own equipment. She was standing next to the human. Although they knew that this is the man that they were hired to protect and serve, the two ladies acted as if they were fellow servants working for the king. “You were dumb enough to make his hatred for you run deeper than it already had.” 

“It’s not my fault,” Shang Qinghua grumbled, his silver eyes looking over to the king. He seemed to be begging with his eyes as he shakily said, “Majesty, ah, please tell the Tai-Yi to be gentle with me. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to survive if he tended to me harshly again…!” 

“That’s fine,” the king was calm and his voice seemed much lighter than what Xiao-er last remembered. Sneakily, she glanced over at Ying Yue, and the woman also met her eyes. The moment they locked eyes, they realized… 

Oh… the king favors this human _a lot_. 

“If you don’t want the Tai-Yi, you can have these two maids tend to you,” and just like that, the two ladies were given to the duke. 

Shang Qinghua looked at both of the women and blinked. Of course, the two ladies didn’t detect any sort of wickedness in his eyes. Instead, he seemed baffled. A moment of silence stretched before the human’s pitiful voice said, “...as long as they’re kind. I’m a hurt man…” 

“Good,” The corners of the king’s lip tilted upwards slightly as he closed his eyes and nodded. Xiao-er almost hurt herself from trying not to grin. Ah, it seems like the duke hasn’t realized that the king had gifted him two servants. Yet, this is also what the king wanted.

Ying Yue quick-wittedly flashed a grin at the human and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure it hurts a little bit less than what the Tai-Yi’s treatment. Maybe I’ll even suggest putting iron bars into your leg.” The human’s expression paled as he stared up at the woman with eyes widened from panic. 

Xiao-er couldn’t help herself and she laughed, “Don’t worry, mister Shang. She’s kidding!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Wu Chouzhu walked to the house with his hood down, his chest light, and a gentle smile on his lips as he approached the place. It’s been such a long time since he has seen his mother and son. He was excited to be back home after such a long journey away to get enough money to support them all during these hard times. He had thought about how to greet his family, yet he settled with just showing up at the door and knocking. As soon as the two gentle knocks sounded on the wooden panel, he heard a voice unfamiliar to him call out from within. Immediately, his happy expression shifted; the gentle smile fell from his face. When a woman greeted him at the door, she asked, “Who’er you?” 

“...” He frowned, his excitement of finally returning home quickly fading. He pushed past the feeling of bafflement and spoke, “I… Excuse me, but where are Wu Cai’liang and the little child that was with her?” 

“Eh? Who d’fuck is _‘Wu Cai’liang’?_ ” The fat woman scowled at him. Then she turned her body to the house and asked her husband, “Honey! You know who ‘Wu Cai’liang’ is?” 

The man inside answered, “Is dat ol’ lady that passed some years ago!” Getting the answer, she turned back to the masked stranger and grinned. “Der’s ya answer. What you want?” 

Passed? As in death? 

Wu Chouzhu’s lips parted slightly in shock, unable to process the words at the moment. He struggled with his words then numbly said, “A-and the boy?” 

“What boy?” 

“The… The boy that was with her? He should be about ten-years-old.” Seeing her baffled expression, he described what his son looked like, “He has red hair and different colored eyes…” 

“Oh! That rascal!” the descriptions triggered her memory and she scowled, throwing a meaty arm into the air, “He’s always botherin’ us! If it weren’t for ma husband, that little shit would harass us nonstap. Tossed his ass out like the homeless brat he is.” She waved her hand down the street and said, “If ya wanna see him, he could be out there somewhere.” 

“Ah… what… year is it?” He asked when he realized that the memories he had before he left did not match up with what was currently in front of him. The lady gave him a baffled look before she told him, ending her sentence with, “Now if there be nothin’ else ya need, Gudbai.” And with that, she slammed the door in his face. 

Wu Chouzhu didn’t move. In fact, as he processed the words, he had no expression. He stood motionless for a moment before the panic set in; behind that silver mask, his eyes widened, and his iris shrunk. His jaw dropped as he gasped in shock. The moment the panic settled in, he hurried down the street, not at all caring about his reputation as a Shadow Demon and Pseudo-king. As he ran, he called out loudly for his son, “ _Ah-Lang! Ah-Lang!!_ ”

He ran to the section where the homeless struggled to survive, calling fiercely for his son. Each time he shouted _“Ah-Lang!”_ , he became more erratic. He would question the people residing there about his son and if they didn’t answer him quickly enough he would rush off in a new direction. Eventually, he found himself running frantically through the bustling streets of the marketplace of the city, calling out for his son and asking anyone who would listen about the boy. 

“Have you seen my son?!” His own voice was unfamiliar to his ears as he roared. Anxiety shook his voice and he found himself incapable of calming down. He felt as if he couldn’t control how his body trembled or how his legs felt weak. However, he pushed himself to run, shoving through the masses as he was screaming. “Have you seen my son?! Please tell me you’ve seen my son!! _Ah_ -Lang! _Ah-Lang!!_ ” 

Dong Xiu saw the man who was rushing through the sea of demons. He heard the man shouting from a mile away but he didn’t bring himself to care about the stranger’s dismay. Instead, he lazily observed the situation with his beloved wife at his side. Just moments earlier, he had given the fourteen-year-old Wu Lang some money and had him take Dong Wenmin and the youngest daughter inside the building to buy clothes. Because it was a high-cost store, the masked man’s hysterical shouting was not heard by the child he was so heatedly looking for. 

Dong Xiu confirmed the man’s relationship with the young boy when he had begun to describe his son, “He has red hair! My son has red hair and different colored eyes! Have you seen him?! Please!! He’s the only one… He’s the only one who can save us…!! My Son! My Son!!” 

Yuan Ji breathed deeply and calmly, her hands turning over the hairpin that Dong Xiu had bought for her earlier. She quietly spoke, “That’s his father…” 

“I know,” Dong Xiu turned his eyes away from the scene, not at all making any sort of movement to alert the distraught father that he had his son. Instead, the Eastern Marquis stuffed his hands into his pockets. Yuan Ji knew her husband’s intention, but she frowned at his behavior. 

“Dong Xiu…” she said warningly. 

“I know,” He repeated, his lips lifting into a tight smile. “But I don’t care.” 

She furrowed her brows as she gazed up at him. Her husband didn’t meet her glance as he continued, “Wu Lang told me that his grandmother raised him. I have not heard him mention his father.”

“Dong Xiu,” she cut in firmly. “If he is his only child, it’s only fair to let him have his son back.” 

“No,” Dong Xiu chuckled under his breath, taking a hand out of his pocket to touch his nose. “I will not let someone who abandoned his family once get the chance to do it again. He doesn’t deserve to take care of a child if he’s going to neglect him again.” 

“What if it were your daughters,” she couldn’t help but present to him the scenario. Rather than getting annoyed at her, he found amusement in the thought and replied, “Ji-er, you know I will not abandon my family.” Before she could open her mouth to speak, he continued, “And the boy has also become a part of _my_ family. I will not forsake him, you, or the girls.” 

And with that, she quieted. Although her heart pitied the man looking for his child, she admitted that she agreed with her selfish husband’s way of thinking. There was no telling if the man would abandon his child again even after they reunited. Compared to when they first saw Wu Lang, although it’s been two weeks since Dong Xiu and the little boy had come back from the war, the young demon seemed to come out of his shell of distrust. Just from the small answers that she and the other wives managed to get from Wu Lang, they could tell that the kid lived in poor conditions for a long time. Knowing this, Yuan Ji softly agreed with her husband. 

The boy was better off with them. 

Just as the despairing man was drifting away from where they stood, from behind the shop doors opened and three children walked out.

“Papa! Mama!” their oldest daughter waddled to them happily, her tiny hands tugging at her parent’s robes. Although she wasn’t her daughter by blood, Yuan Ji turned around and smiled brightly at the little girl. She laughed, “Ah! Minmin! What a pretty dress!” 

The eight-year-old little girl twirled, showing off her new dress to her parents. Her little cheeks were red as she said, “Wu Lang picked it out for me!” 

The red-haired demonling gave an awkward cough as the second daughter _pata-pata_ to her dad and reached out to be picked up. The father was naturally soft with his daughter and he picked up his little girl and held her in his arms. She was satisfied and leaned her head against his shoulder with a huge smile on her face. 

“Did he?” Dong Xiu whistled. He was pleased with the dress that was picked out and he grinned at the young retainer, “You have good eyes, _Ah-_ Lang.” 

Yuan Ji’s expression stiffened at the use of the nickname, acknowledging that Dong Xiu had picked it up from the boy’s father that had been calling out earlier. Wu Lang also tensed at the sound of the nickname, grimacing behind his back mask as he stared at Dong Xiu with an undefinable, hard look in his different colored eyes. Dong Xiu chortled and winked at his young bodyguard, “What? Like the nickname? I just now thought of it as I was waiting for you guys.” 

_Liar_ , Yuan Ji called him out in her heart. 

“I… Uh, it’s fine. I g-guess,” Wu Lang shrugged as he shifted in his spot. Then he averted his turquoise and hazel eyes down the street. “Are we done now?” 

Dong Xiu looked to his beloved wife and gave her a questioning look. Yuan Ji smiled as she took Dong Wenmin’s hand and said, “We can go if you want. I believe the cooks are just about done with dinner.” 

“Oh good!” Dong Wenmin cut in. “I’m hungry. Are we going to have my favorite?” 

“Yes!” Dong Xiu laughed as Yuan Ji led the little girl out into the street. He followed after his wife but his free arm reached out to Wu Lang and a large hand was placed on the back of the youngster’s shoulders to guide him along. The boy followed obediently, unaware of the fact that he was being led in the opposite direction of where his real father ran off. “Wu Lang, I also told the head chef to prepare that one dish you liked.” 

The boy’s eyes glittered, “The chicken with the honey flavor and the rice?!” 

“Yes,” Dong Xiu laughed at the boy’s excited expression. However, he knew that the boy preferred to eat alone, so he added, “They should have it prepared separately in a small box that you can take to your room.” 

“Okay!” 

As they walked, from far behind them, a powerful, sorrowful cry rang. The sound startled the other people in the area but the Dong family continued to walk home. Wu Lang wanted to stop and look behind, but Dong Xiu’s gentle hand prevented him from doing so. Yet, it didn’t stop the boy from curiously asking, “What was that?” 

“Oh,” Dong Xiu smiled down at him. “Probably some crazy person who lost the lotto! Don’t worry about it, _Ah_ -Lang!” 

“...oh.” 

Weird, why did it sound familiar?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **1.)** _"Chou as in en jiang chou bao"_ | 恩將仇報: to bite the hand that feeds one; to requite kindness with enmity  
>  **2.)** _"Zhu as in sui bu rong zhu"_ | 罪不容誅: even death cannot atone for the offense; guilty of crimes for which even death is insufficient punishment  
>  **3.)** Jian: Jian Bird (鹣 jiān) – a mythical bird with only one eye and one wing. Jian Birds survive by joining in pairs (鹣鹣), and this mutual dependence symbolizes the bond between a husband and wife.  
>  **4.)** Gim: Cantonese of Jian--thus making Xiaoer and Yingyue "JianJian", the mythic birds that join together to become one.  
>  **5.)** _"Xiao as in huo qi xiao qiang"_ | 禍起蕭牆 to suffer from internal conflicts (especially civil wars.


End file.
